


The Muse

by SourwolfZiam



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Artist!Doyoung, DoJae alternating pov, EnNaNa but it's JJN, Explicit Sexual Content, Happy Ending, Johnyong are the love sick fools, KunTen are the superior couple, Love is in the Air, Love sick fools, M/M, Many exhibitions, Many productions, Many showcases, Mentions of past assholery but not by any main character, NCT hyung line feelings, Or is it SuHen, Recreational Drinking, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, They're all fine art or literature students, This fic was an excuse to call Ten a horny bitch, fluff and some angst, lots of art talk, meet cute?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-27
Packaged: 2020-10-01 16:54:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 26,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20342362
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SourwolfZiam/pseuds/SourwolfZiam
Summary: Jaehyun blinks.The stranger looks up at him with pretty eyes, waiting for Jaehyun to respond. On any other day, Jaehyun would have been tempted to flirt.But right now he's just confused."Uhm, excuse me?" Jaehyun asks, scratching his head, and he doesn't miss how the attractive guy zooms in on his bicep.Johnny is chuckling to himself."I would like to paint you" the stranger says, and even his voice is pretty, "If you dont mind, of course"Ten snorts in amusement."Oh my God, Doyoung, you can't just ask people to let you paint them".Doyoung, what a nice name, Jaehyun thinks."Shut up, Chittaphon" Doyoung says, without looking away from Jaehyun, "I'm sure Jaehyun wouldn't mind".And then he smiles. Jaehyun is surprised by how wide it is, compared to how small his mouth looks.He finds himself liking it, and he's very tempted to say yes."I just came to get some coffee" Jaehyun says, and Johnny laughs out loud.Or the one where Jaehyun is Doyoung's muse.





	1. To Be A Muse

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!! Like my other three fics on NCT, this was written in Carly's (taeyongseo) cc!!
> 
> I loved writing this, so please enjoy!

Doyoung is fucking stressed.

He’s stressed, he's not eating or sleeping, and he still needs one final painting that brings his entire collection together. The final year class' exhibition week is in month, and fucking fuck.

A few days before Doyoung needs to show his work to his supervisor, he has a mini anxiety attack. His best friends, Ten and Johnny, forces him to leave his studio, and have a break.

They take him to one of the campus cafes, one Doyoung barely goes to. He slumps down into his chair, letting the others order him a calming cup of peppermint tea, and a huge slice of carrot cake.

He ends up sketching on a napkin, and is about to protest when Johnny snatches it away from him, when someone walks into the cafe. Automatically looking up to see who it is, Doyoung nearly swallows his tongue at the most beautiful human-being he's ever seen walking in, making his way to the counter.

Doyoung cant help but run his eyes over the stranger- he's tall, well-built, and from what Doyoung could see, has the finest and most perfectly sculpted face the artist has ever layed his eyes upon.

Doyoung couldn't help but imagine dressing the gorgeous boy in all white, and having him sit in a meadow, the sun reflecting beautifully against his deep purple hair, his long eyelashes casting shadows over his pretty cheekbones.

Doyoung could also imagine himself licking every inch of that body, but that was tomorrow's concerns.

"I need to paint him" Doyoung says urgently, shutting up Ten's whining about his boyfriend.

"Who?" Johnny asks confusedly, and follows Doyoung's wild-eyed gaze, "Oh, Jaehyun! He's my co-host on JJN"

Doyoung whips his head to look at the taller man, "What?! Why didn't you tell me!"

"Because you don’t listen to the radio, and you've been locked up in your studio for months" Johnny says calmly, and leans back at the scary grin on Doyoung's face.

"Jaehyun, you say?"

Johnny seems to regret saying anything, but before he could respond, a shadow is casted over their table, and Doyoung looks up to see gorgeous Jaehyun standing there.

"Hey Johnny" he says, and oh God, he has _dimples_.

Doyoung wants him so badly.

"Jae! How are you doing? These are my friends Ten and Do-"

"Are you available for me to paint you?" Doyoung interrupts Johnny''s introduction, and Jaehyun blinks at him.

-

Jaehyun blinks.

The stranger looks up at him with pretty eyes, waiting for Jaehyun to respond. On any other day, Jaehyun would have been tempted to flirt.

But right now he's just confused.

"Uhm, excuse me?" Jaehyun asks, scratching his head, and he doesn't miss how the attractive guy zooms in on his bicep.

Johnny is chuckling to himself.

"I would like to paint you" the stranger says, and even his voice is pretty, "If you dont mind, of course"

Ten, Johnny's friend that Jaehyun has met a few times, snorts in amusement.

"Oh my God, Doyoung, you can't just ask people to let you paint them".

Doyoung, what a nice name, Jaehyun thinks.

"Shut up, Chittaphon" Doyoung says, without looking away from Jaehyun, "I'm sure Jaehyun wouldn't mind".

And then he smiles. Jaehyun is surprised by how wide it is, compared to how small his mouth looks.

He finds himself liking it, and he's very tempted to say yes.

"I just came to get some coffee" Jaehyun says, and Johnny laughs out loud.

Doyoung's smile widens.

"I'll buy you all the coffee you want, if you say yes' he says.

"I'll think about it" Jaehyun says, flashing his dimples again.

His order number gets called.

"Excuse me" Jaehyun says, and with a final look at an intrigued-looking Doyoung, he goes to the pickup counter.

"You're drooling" Jaehyun hears Johnny say, and he smiles to himself.

-

"Give me his number" Doyoung demands, and Johnny merely grins. The taller man takes out his phone, and Doyoung is about to give a satisfied smile, when Johnny puts his earphone connector in.

"Get it yourself, Dons" he says, already putting his earphones in.

Doyoung glares.

"Dont be an ass, I need to contact him and get him to say yes" when Johnny merely looks at him, Doyoung sighs in frustration, "Okay, does he live in a res? What department is he? Help!"

"Work for it" Johnny replies, taking a drink from his cup.

Ten is ignoring them both, probably sending nudes to Kun, the horny bitch.

"Please, this is life or death" Doyoung pleads, widening his eyes in a way that always breaks mortals.

"Not my problem" Johnny says simply, and puts on his music.

Doyoung turns to Ten.

"Tennie, help me out" he says in his cutest voice.

"Suddenly I'm deaf" Ten drawls, not even looking up.

Doyoung hates his friends, as he sulkily eats his carrot cake, trying to come up with a plan to find Jaehyun.

Then he remembers something, and smirks.

-

Jaehyun is in the main campus library, later that day, when he gets a message from Johnny.

Normally, he would just ignore the outside world while he's working on his Masters thesis. Moving from Connecticut, where he was born, and did his entire undergrad and Honors degrees, to Seoul, has been quite an adjustment.

But he never complained, even thought he'd been a year and one month into his Masters. He knew how important this job opportunity was for his dad, and the money was good.

Luckily the new university he was in, proved to be very understanding, allowing him to continue with the research he's been doing.

Deciding to do a thesis on the Avant-garde in activism over the last 100 years has been risky, but Jaehyun has always loved the unconventionally beautiful, and being an art history student has opened his mind to the wider web of the art world.

The radio gig he got has been a nice breather from the hell that is academia. With that in mind, he answers Johnny's message, in case it was about a change in the radio script.

When Jaehyun sees the message, he grins.

'Heads up- Doyoung is very persistent, and he'll find a way to track you down, and kidnap you so that he can paint you. Artists are weird'.

Jaehyun replies quickly.

'Thanks, John. I'll be on the look out'.

He exits his messages, and puts on his music again, readjusting his earphones.

This is going to be interesting

-

Doyoung is at Mystics that night, 2 hours into his shift.

Mystics is one of the bars on campus. He started working there in his first year, first as a waiter, and now he's mainly at the bar. He's quite popular because of his own unique drinks he makes, and the tips he gets at a single shift is great spending money.

His shift is 6pm-3am tonight, like most of them are, and because he's been busy trying to finish his collection for exhibition week, he's gone from working 5 times a week, to only twice. He isn't going outside much, so he isn't missing the extra tips.

He and Taeyong, his usual partner, are manning the bar, when Johnny, Ten, Kun and Taeil walk in, waving at Doyoung, before taking their usual table in the corner of the bar, away from the haze of smoke coming from the sitting area outside.

The bar has 2 floors, with the bar area right in front by the entrance, with a break between the two sides of the ground floor, where the stairs is situated. Because of their position in the corner, blocked by the stairs, Doyoung couldn't really see his friends, until Johnny came to the bar, a smile on his face.

Doyoung smirks at the way Johnny straightens his jacket, and runs a hand through his black hair, his eyes on Taeyong. The taller man has been crushing on Taeyong since the barman started working at Mystics a few months ago.

Because of Johnny studying photography, and Taeyong being a dance and vocal major, they haven't really seen each other much on the campus. Doyoung himself didn't know Taeyong until he started working at Mystics.

They are friends now, and Doyoung has gotten to know Jungwoo, Xuxi and WinWin, Taeyong's friends, quite well over the last few months. Doyoung was even the one who introduced Yuta, one of the waiters and Doyoung's best friend and roommate, to WinWin, and they've been inseparable since. Donghyuck, Taeyong's little brother, even occasionally came in with his group of friends.

Doyoung makes drinks from a new order, but keeps his eyes on the other two.

"Hi" Johnny says, stuffing his hands in his pockets, a nervous smile on his face.

"Johnny!" Taeyong says brightly, a friendly smile on his face, "I didn't see you walk in. What can I get you?"

Doyoung can practically hear Johnny's heart stuttering from having Taeyong's eyes on him, and his smirk widens. He hands his drinks over to the patrons, and pretends to be cleaning some glasses.

He knows all about Johnny and Taeyong's mutual crushes on each other, and also how dumb they both are, hence they aren't together yet.

Doyoung never considered it his business to interfere, especially with how sensitive Johnny got when it came to feelings, and Taeyong being so shy.

But, Doyoung was desperate.

"Uhm, can I get two gin and tonics, one Long Island Iced Tea with cranberry juice, and a glass of Merlot, please" Johnny says, and his eyes pathetically follows Taeyong while he makes the drinks.

"So" Doyoung starts, wiping the surface of a beer glass, seizing his opportunity "Hyung, have you ordered the wine for your opening yet? It's only a week away".

Johnny startles as if forgetting that Doyoung was there, and distractingly shakes his head.

"No, I'll do it tomorrow" he says, his eyes back on Taeyong, who was opening a bottle of red wine.

"Taeyong, did you know that Johnny hyung is doing an exhibition for his photographic collection next week? It's a night opening, and he's exhibiting in one of the best galleries on campus. His department only does that for exhibitions they know will be a success, and get an A" Doyoung says, and Johnny blushes under Taeyong's impressed gaze.

"That's amazing, Johnny! I'm so happy for you" Taeyong says, sounding sincere, his eyes practically shining.

Doyoung is surprised Johnny hasn't melted into the ground yet. The older man opens his mouth, when Taeyong pushes the tray with his order towards him.

"Here you go"

Doyoung watches Johnny deflate, and resists the urge to openly smirk. He turns to Taeyong.

"Could you go and get more napkins at the back, hyungie? We're running low".

"Of course. I'll be right back" and with that, Taeyong leaves in a cloud of blue hair.

Doyoung immediately turns to Johnny.

Hook.

"Want me to invite him to the opening?" Doyoung asks, sounding casual and uncaring, setting his cleaned glass down.

"You will?" Johnny asks hopefully, a bright smile on his face, "Thanks, Dons!".

Line.

"Of course, hyung" Doyoung says, a satisfied smile on his face as he continues, "Give me Jaehyun's number first".

Johnny blinks, his smile dimming as he glares at Doyoung.

Sinker.

-

Johnny stills says no.

"Get it yourself, Doyoung. If Jae didn't want to give it to you yet, then I shouldn't either" and with that, Johnny leaves.

Doyoung glares at the back of his head, hoping it bursts into flames.

It doesn't. Doyoung is disappointed.

Things get worse when Taeyong gets back, clutching a box of napkins.

"Doyoungie, do you think I could go to Johnny's exhibition? I'd quite like to see his work"

Doyoung sighs. There goes his leverage.

"Of course, hyung".

The smile on Taeyong's almost makes Doyoung forget about his annoyance.

Doyoung gets his tea break at 10pm, and after grabbing a bottle of water, he goes to his friends' table. Taeyong was already on his phone, going outside to take a call, so Doyoung didn't get the opportunity to invite him to sit with them.

Doyoung sits next to Taeil, who he kisses on the cheek. Seeing that Johnny was reaching for the last slice of pizza, Doyoung shoots his hand out, snatching it first.

"Very mature" Johnny drawls at the satisfied smirk on Doyoung's face as he takes a bite.

Doyoung finishes the slice while drinking his water, as his friends talk and drink around him.

Doyoung fists bumps with Yuta, who brings the table's order of a carnivore basket (fries, chicken wings, jalapeno peppers, sticky ribs, crispy nuggets), and drinks.

He is about to ask Yuta if he bought milk for their apartment, when WinWin walks in behind Taeyong, clearly just coming from dance practice. He was doing a solo dance for his final grade.

"Baby!" Yuta says, his smile wide and gorgeous as he quickly walks over to WinWin, who's returning smile is a little tired, but sincere.

The boyfriends kiss, quite passionately, making Doyoung roll his eyes.

"Eww, get a room" Taeyong says, mock gasping when Yuta flashes a middle finger without breaking the kiss.

"Okay, okay, that's enough" Sehun, one of the other waiters and a friend of the group, drawls, patting Yuta on the back as he walks past them.

Sehun is also a dance major. Doyoung once painted him for his third year exhibition- Sehun was only wearing a pair of jeans, and nothing else, standing in a dance position for hours, a mask on his face, the stage half lit.

It's still one of his best paintings, and Junmyeon, Sehun's boyfriend and the owner of Mystics, bought it immediately. It hangs on the wall on the second floor behind the DJ stand.

When Yuta and WinWin are proper again, the Chinese man joins them. Taeyong's friends have slowly been integrating with Doyoung's. Kun and WinWin were particularly close, immediately speaking rapid Mandarin.

When Johnny goes to the bathroom upstairs, after waving awkwardly to Taeyong, Doyoung strikes.

"Do any of you know a Jaehyun? He does radio with Johnny hyung" Doyoung asks, and Ten snorts, eating a fry.

"Oh, Jaehyun! What a nice guy" Kun says, smiling, "He tutors at-"

Before Kun could finish, Ten slaps his hand over his boyfriend's mouth.

"No" Ten says emphatically at Kun's confused expression.

"I'm going to sell all your earrings" Doyoung threatens, before leaving since his tea break was over. He could hear Taeil laughing.

Doyoung is busy making cocktails for a group of jocks that just came in, when Taeil comes to the bar.

"What's going on?" he asks, and Doyoung tells him about Jaehyun, and _needing_ to paint him. Also how no one wants to give him information on the other man.

Taeil look at him like he's a dumbass.

"You know he does radio with Johnny right?" Doyoung nods, "Do I really have to explain the rest"

Doyoung looks at him with confusion, until it clicks.

Oh my God, he's been an idiot.

"Thanks, hyung" Doyoung says with a smile, and Taeil leaves with a fond shake of his head.

-

The painting Doyoung did of Sehun was for his collection inspired by moving art.

Sehun was indeed only wearing a pair of jeans, old and frayed. It was his favorite pair that he enjoyed dancing in.

He was rubbed down with glitter, and Doyoung painted him with pretty swirls and patterns all over his upper body, his feet, and on his cheeks. It was a symbolism of his body being walking art that others get to see perform.

Sehun's hair was free of product, and slightly damp so that it lay in waves over his forehead. The mask was plain and black, covering his whole face.

The position he held was him kneeling, his arms in an arch above his head, and his body bowed to the side, head tilted to the side.

The stage was dimmed, so that the glitter could shine.

It took hours to complete.

Sehun cried when he saw the final product.

-

Yuta is sleeping over at WinWin's (as usual), so Doyoung has their apartment all to himself.

Yuta and Doyoung have been friends since their first year, when they were placed as roommates in their male residence. The two boys immediately hit it off, and have been together ever since, even renting an apartment together in their second year.

They have lived together since, and it was Yuta who worked at Mystics first, that suggested the job to Doyoung. The Japanese man was a major in psychology and literature.

When Doyoung arrived home, he immediately took a shower, and got into his most comfortable trackpants and loose shirt, falling asleep as soon as his head hit the cushion.

The following morning, Doyoung spent time touching up on some of his paintings, adding and removing whatever he felt was necessary to make his collection perfect.

Deciding to become an artist that practices a weird mixture of surrealism and impressionism, with a focus on the human and the extended symbolism and beauty of the body in various environments, has been an absolute joy for Doyoung.

He's been able to paint people in both their natural and unfamiliar surroundings, and whatever energy and aura he garnered would be depicted in the art.

Doyoung listens to a mixture of classical and modern music, letting his hands and brushes think for him.

He has pork stirfry for lunch, and when it's time, he leaves the apartment, locking behind him, calling for a cab.

-

"We'll be back after these advertisements" Jaehyun says in his radio voice, before pressing a few buttons. When a bright, chirpy voice started talking about a new noodles bar opening, Jaehyun took off his headphones.

He turns to Johnny, who's yawning widely.

"Tired?" Jaehyun asks, drinking from his bottle of cucumber water. He's wearing his glasses tonight, since his new contacts have been irritating his eyes, and he'll need to get new ones. A beanie hides his messy hair, only a thatch of purple sticking out. He was in a simple jeans and denim button up, wearing his favorite beat up sneakers.

"Yeah, I needed to finish selecting the final images that will be used for my exhibition next week, and it took way longer than I thought" Johnny says, lifting his glasses to rub his eyes, "I then changed the entire layout, and had to redesign the settings, and make calls to alert the gallery installers, since setup begins tomorrow".

"Sounds like a lot of work" Jaehyun says sympathetically, patting the older man on his shoulder. He was still learning and adjusting to Korea's age hierarchy, and terms like "hyung", "noona" and "sunbaenim", but Jaehyun looked up to Johnny so much, and was glad the fellow American who's been in Korea much long than him, was so understanding, "It'll all be amazing, dont worry. From what you've told me, the exhibition will blow everyone away".

"Thanks, Jae" Johnny says with a small smile, and when the radio manager signals that the ads were over in 5 seconds, they both put on their headphones again, and continued the show.

"J&J Nighttime Show" (or the JJN show) has been so much fun for both men; Jaehyun happened to be listening to the radio his first week in Korea, still unpacking in his small apartment he rented on campus, when the ad came up for a new student radio show being created.

Two DJs were needed, available every Sunday nights at 11pm. They had to have experience doing radio or entertainment in some capacity, and the applications would be open for a week only, since the show launched in a fortnight.

Jaehyun dropped everything, and called the radio station. He then mailed them his credentials, and was called back a day later for an interview.

The show was his. He met Johnny a week before the show launched, so that the show's name could be decided.

The two men hit it off immediately, and became fast friends. Jaehyun met Ten and Kun a month or two later, who he liked very much.

The two men seemed to bicker more than anything, but they obviously loved each other a lot.

Jaehyun has made some other friends of his own. The apartment complex he lived in was filled mostly by international students, so he didn't feel too much like a fish out of water. He's neighbours were these cool guys named Vernon and Joshua, who he was closest to, and there were other residents he occasionally hanged out with.

Because he was doing Masters, the person he saw most in his department was his supervisor.

Becoming a tutor was more a way of making some extra pocket money (since his parents were paying for his apartment and food), and he enjoyed being able to buy a new pair of shoes once in a while.

Plus, the first years he was tutoring in art history were great, and he enjoyed spending time with them.

Halfway through JJN, there was movement behind the glass, and Jaehyun glanced up from his script while Johnny was talking, his eyes widening when he saw Doyoung.

He looked good with his black hair hanging lank like that, and his round glasses were adorable. Doyoung gave a cheeky little wave, holding up a plastic bag, and Jaehyun couldn't help but smile at his persistence

"Oh! I see an annoying little bunny has entered the station, everyone. I wonder how it got in here" Johnny drawls, and Jaehyun barely holds back his laughter.

Doyoung merely flashes his middle finger at Johnny, who sticks his tongue out.

"Better call the vet then, JohnD" Jaehyun says in his most serious voice, smiling innocently when Doyoung narrows his eyes on him.

He did look like a disgruntled bunny with that expression, Jaehyun thinks.

It was cute.

"Good thinking, JaeD" Johnny replies, and Doyoung suddenly has a smile on his face, before he slowly opens the plastic bag, taking out several takeaway boxes. The label on it was from the best burger joint on campus.

Doyoung shows it to them, opening it to show the delicious burger in one of the containers. He then closes it.

And then starts handing out to the staff around him, who were all smiling and giving grateful bows.

Johnny and Jaehyun gape at him, quiet for a few seconds, before the radio station manager flaps her arms, motioning for them to talk.

-

"We'll be back same time next week, everyone" Johnny says, and together with Jaehyun, "Night night".

With the final song playing them out, Johnny and Jaehyun takes their weekly selfie to post on the studio radio's social medias. When that's done, they go find Doyoung, who's waiting for them in the reception area.

"My burger" is the first thing Johnny says, a big pout on his face when they get to Doyoung.

Jaehyun smiles at the expression on Doyoung's face.

"Firstly, it was -my- burger. And you know what happens when you mess with me" Doyoung replies, and Jaehyun laughs when Johnny starts chasing Doyoung, putting him in a headlock.

The three of them end up at a 24/7 cafe, and since Doyoung already ate, he only gets himself an iced coffee, while Johnny and Jaehyun order a tower of food.

Johnny doesn't stay long, exhausted from the day he had, so as soon as he finishes eating, and paid for his food, he leaves them with a tired smile.

Doyoung drinks from his paper straw, watching Jaehyun as he eats his second portion of ramyeon.

The younger man certainly has a talent for making everything he eats look delicious.

Doyoung smiles when Jaehyun wipes the corner of his mouth, before digging into the rice soup.

"Hungry?" he asks sardonically, and Jaehyun shrugs, speaking when he finished swallowing his food.

"I haven't had the chance to eat all day, what with the final draft of my thesis being due next Friday. I've only just received my notes back from my supervisor, so it's been out of control" Jaehyun replies, taking a sip of his own iced latte.

"I know how you feel. Finals week is horrible" Doyoung says sympathetically. He leaves Jaehyun to eat his food, only stealing one rice cake from him.

The two men leave the cafe at around 1:30am, and walk together in the direction of the residences and private accommodation on campus.

They slowly start opening up to each other- Jaehyun talks about his home in America, and how homesick he’d been his first month in Korea. He lovingly mentions his parents, and how he could never begrudge his father for moving them here.

Doyoung tried not to stare at the prettiest smile he's ever seen, crossing Jaehyun's face when he proudly talks about his father's new position.

Doyoung talks about his own parents, and his older brother, who just landed his first major role in a drama.

"A family full of artists, that must have turned your parents' hair grey" Jaehyun says with a grin, and Doyoung nods, a rueful smile on his face.

He remembers the fights he had with his mom when he refused to follow in the family footsteps of becoming a doctor or a lawyer. Gongmyung already messed up by deciding to go to acting school, and when Doyoung told his family he got into Michaelis School of Fine Art, his father nearly had an aneurysm.

"They got over it" Doyoung said simply, and after a few seconds of comfortable silence, "I would still very much like to paint you, Jaehyun"

He glances to the side, and under the fluorescent light of the streetlamps, Doyoung sees how red Jaehyun's cheeks have gotten.

"I cant stay still very long" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung nudges his shoulder with his own.

"Thats a horrible excuse" Doyoung replies, and puts his hand on Jaehyun's arm to stop him, turning him so that they were facing each other, "Please? You are the perfect person to complete my collection with”

Jaehyun looks down at where Doyoung was touching him, and then up at the older man.

He hesitates for a few seconds, before nodding, a small smile on his face.

Doyoung breathes a sigh of relief.

"How do you feel about meadows?"

-

Their first session together is the day after Jaehyun hands in his final draft to his supervisor. It's a Thursday, the day before Johnny's big exhibition.

Doyoung is busy setting up his easel and canvas, making sure it's stable on the flat earth he found amongst the grass and flowers. The meadow is one of Doyoung's favorite places to sketch, or to simply relax.

It's a loose oval shaped area, surrounded completely by forest. Doyoung and Jaehyun were in the near center of it- they arrived at 6am in the morning, clutching a bag of bakery croissants and flasks of coffee, so that they could catch the early strays of sunlight.

While Doyoung is busy mixing his colours, and making sure his water bucket was in reaching distance, Jaehyun was laying on the grass, on his phone.

"Do you listen to music while working?" Jaehyun asks, looking at Doyoung, his eyes hidden behind his sunglasses.

"I do" Doyoung says, taking out the small bluetooth speaker from his bag, "I'll allow you to choose the music" and tosses it to Jaehyun, who catches it easily.

A few seconds later, a Stevie Wonder song starts playing, and Doyoung smiles approvingly.

Jaehyun hands the speaker to Doyoung, along with his phone and sunglasses.

Jaehyun was wearing all white, just like Doyoung envisioned. He was in a oversized, white button down shirt, a few of the top buttons undone, with a pair of white linen pants. His feet were bare, and his purple hair was slightly curled from keeping it damp that morning. Doyoung had ensured they both put on sunscreen, since being in the sun for as long as they were going to be, would not be good for their skin.

He looked beautiful, and Doyoung couldn't wait to get it all down on canvas.

The older man was a few feet away from Jaehyun, ensuring that he had enough distance to capture all of Jaehyun, and the forest behind him.

"Okay, I'm ready" Doyoung say eventually, and Jaehyun gives an answering nod. He rests his head on his right arm, face tilted up to the sun and his eyes closed, just as Doyoung instructed him to. Jaehyun's left arm was resting in the grass, fingers wrapped around a cluster of white daisies, his right leg folded.

Doyoung looks at him critically, before moving forward, his own bare feet feeling good in the grass. He was wearing black trackpants, and a long grey thin sweater.

He kneels down, and hitches up Jaehyun's shirt slightly, revealing the slightest hint of stomach. He then moves up, moving a lock of Jaehyun's hair so that it fell over his eye. Doyoung's eyes rove over the younger man's face, smiling slightly at how still he's staying.

The sunlight was hitting him perfectly, the white practically glowing.

"Perfect" Doyoung says, getting up again, "Let's begin".

-

Doyoung first takes pictures of Jaehyun on his camera, before he spends the entire morning and afternoon painting him.

He focuses on perfecting Jaehyun's body position, the strays of the sun hitting him, and the flowers surrounding him.

His canvas is 20x30, and since Jaehyun is part of a larger painting, he doesn't take as long to paint, which ironically means that Doyoung gets to spend more time painting him.

The surrounding forest and sky would be added later on, when Doyoung is finishing up the painting at home.

In between the layers of acrylic paint drying, Doyoung and Jaehyun talk while listening to music, making sure to drink their water and eating their snacks.

Jaehyun is an amazing subject, never moving unnecessarily, humming along to the music. Doyoung allows him to stretch occasionally when he looks uncomfortable.

When Doyoung is satisfied he got what he needed, he leaves his canvas to dry one last time that day, dropping his paintbrush in the water, setting his palette down.

He joins Jaehyun, who is sitting up on the grass.

"Thank you" Doyoung says sincerely, and Jaehyun smiles at him, reaching up, brushing his thumb over Doyoung's cheek.

When he pulls away, he has red paint on his thumb.

"My pleasure" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung resists the urge to lean in and- and.

Jaehyun's eyes seem to sparkle in the setting shine. Doyoung tears his eyes away from the beautiful man across from him, glancing around.

The meadow was bathed in a soft, orange glow, so breathtaking, that a new idea sparked in Doyoung's mind.

He turns to Jaehyun again.

"I have a new idea for a portrait" Doyoung starts, and when Jaehyun's expression turns interested, he finished, "It would require you to take your shirt off, however".

-

Doyoung is back behind the easel, grabbing one A2 artagain piece of paper, propping it up on one of his larger notepads.

He grabs his huge pencil bag, taking out his graphic pencil set.

"Okay! Are you-" the words die in Doyoung's throat when he looks up and sees Jaehyun.

His shirt is off, and luckily the air is not as cool as it usually is, so he's not getting cold with the sun setting.

Doyoung swallows hard as his eyes flit down the younger man's body.

He works out, and quite religiously for the hard chest, toned muscles on his biceps, and his 6 pack.

More like an 8 pack.

Doyoung clears his throat, ears burning when he sees Jaehyun catching him out.

"Ready?" He asks in a remarkably steady voice.

Jaehyun licks his lips.

"Ready" he replies, "Where do you want me?"

-

Doyoung goes to bed that night with the image of Jaehyun behind his eyelids.

WinWin and Yuta were watching Japanese anime in the lounge, but Doyoung was way too tired to join them.

So here he was, exhausted and horny.

The session today was everyone Doyoung hoped for- his bare outline was perfect, and his add-ons could be done with the pictures he took.

The drawing he did was a little rough and needed some fixing, but he could tell that it would come out beautifully.

Jaehyun's body lodges itself into the front of his mind, close enough to touch.

His ape mind cant help but imagine Jaehyun naked and below him, begging Doyoung to let him come.

Just imagining Jaehyun calling him "hyung" made Doyoung moan shakily, palming his hard on through his boxers.

Doyoung bites his bottom lip to prevent himself from making any noise.

-

Johnny's exhibition day came bright and icy cold. It was the kind of weather Jaehyun enjoyed in winter- the sun was out, and he only had to dress to stay warm, but not for snow or rain.

He wakes up early in the morning, and once the cloud of tiredness resided, he immediately remembers the session he and Doyoung had yesterday.

Jaehyun blushes when he remembers how Doyoung ran his eyes over his naked upper body, and feeling like an object of desire while Doyoung sketched him, his eyes almost never on his paper as he drew out his vision.

Jaehyun was ready to do whatever Doyoung wanted, by the end of the day.

He was almost disappointed when they arrived in front of Jaehyun's apartment complex, and Doyoung simply smiled, said goodnight, and left.

Jaehyun eventually drags himself out of bed. He had a lot to do today, before the exhibition tonight.

After showering, and getting dressed, Jaehyun leaves his apartment with his laptop bag on his shoulder. He gets a breakfast bagel and strong coffee at the deli close to his faculty building, and eats it in the postgrad student lounge on his department's floor.

Jaehyun had two tutor classes today, and a meeting with his supervisor, so he was busy until 2pm. After the last class, he decided to go to check out the bar Doyoung worked at.

The older man invited him to drop in any time, and since Jaehyun was starving, he decided to do just that.

Mystics was on the opposite side of the campus from where Jaehyun's hangouts, apartment and faculty are, so he didn’t really venture close to the bar's side. He's heard of it, and Johnny often invites him, but Jaehyun just never seemed to have time to join him.

When Jaehyun gets to Mystics, it looks like every other bar/pub at Michaelis- the rustic, home away from home vibe was definitely there, and there were inspirations from American pubs and hangout spots.

He found himself liking it.

Once inside, he immediately spotted the bar in the corner, and the huge staircase in the center was definitely attention-grabbing.

Jaehyun took a seat in one of the smaller boots, and was served by a pretty girl, whose nametag read 'Joy'. He ordered the wings basket and beer special, and tried to imagine Doyoung behind the bar, serving people drinks while smiling charmingly for that extra tip.

He kind of regrets not coming here with Johnny sooner.

After Jaehyun pays his bill, he returns to his place, changing out his jeans and thick hoodie, into a more suitable outfit.

The exhibition was semi-formal, so Jaehyun put on his black polar neck, black blazer with thin silver chains on the breast pocket, and dress pants. He used some gel to slick back his hair, and even shined his shoes.

This was a big night for Johnny, and the most Jaehyun could do was dress appropriately.

He leaves with a flutter in his stomach at the prospect of seeing Doyoung soon.

-

There has been talk of photograph and print media businesses coming around to the various exhibitions happening, so Johnny's been even more stressed than ever.

After Johnny saw a group of people come in from various companies he applied at for work the following year, he was on the verge of an panic attack. Luckily, Doyoung reached him before anyone saw.

Doyoung had to force him to take a shot of tequiila to calm down his nerves, and just breathe.

Once Doyoung convinced Johnny that no one would hate his photographs, they joined everyone else in the gallery. Jaehyun and their friends had all arrived by that point.

Johnny visibly eased with having more familiar faces around, and even gained his confidence back once his supervisor came up to him with one of the CEO's of a famous Seoul print company, and congratulated Johnny for his work done.

Once Doyoung was sure Johnny was fine, he could finally get a glass of wine for himself.

At the open bar, he asked for a red, and while he was waiting, someone brushed up against him.

"Hey" a familiar, masculine voice says, and Doyoung tries not to drool when he sees Jaehyun.

God, he looks so good.

"You sure dressed up" he says instead, thanking the bartender with a smile when he gets handed his wine.

"A glass of white, please" Jaehyun says to the man, before focusing on Doyoung again, "Thanks. I could say the same about you. Nice tie, blue looks good on you"

Doyoung smiles, and opens his mouth, to probably flirt horribly, when he spots his friends walking towards them.

"Doyoungie!" Ten says, wrapping his arm around the taller man, who grimaces, but puts up with it.

Doyoung and Jaehyun dont have any time to talk alone for the rest of the exhibition. A few people come up to the group of them, complimenting them on a few photographs of them that were used by Johnny.

Everyone seemed to like to the black and white image of Ten in one of his costumes for a spring production of 'The Nut Cracker' that was done. Ten was on his toes, arms spread as if he was flying, dressed as Clara.

There was another photo of them all at Johnny's house in Chicago last year, where they were all in the pool, attempting to do synchronized swimming.

Doyoung's favorite was of Johnny himself, smiling widely when he finally got to buy the camera he's wanted for a long time. The photo was taken on his old camera, and Doyoung convinced him to use it in the exhibition.

The theme was 'Love' after all, and Johnny loved what he did.

Doyoung shared a grin with Jaehyun when he saw how Johnny and Taeyong were talking in front of a huge photograph, the taller man blushing and stumbling over his words under the admiring gaze of Taeyong.

The exhibition would be up until the following afternoon, and by the amount of people talking to Johnny, handing him cards, it was a huge success.

They all went out afterwards to celebrate, ending up at Cubana, where they all danced and drank into the early morning.

Jaehyun invited everyone back to his apartment, to make some ramyeon and sleep in his extra room, or on his couch.

He was becoming fast friends with all of Johnny and Doyoung's other friends, and becoming more comfortable being integrated into the group.

"Ready for tomorrow?" Jaehyun heard behind him while stirring the pot with the ramyeon in it, having just added the greens and eggs in.

Doyoung joins him by the stove, and Jaehyun gives him a smile.

"Yeah. Are we still meeting at 5pm?" Jaehyun asks, and Doyoung nods, stealing a slice of bacon.

"I have an afternoon shift at Mystics, so we can meet there, since it's on our way to the Eng building"

"Oh!" Jaehyun exclaims, remembering what he was meant to tell Doyoung, "I was Mystics for lunch. You make a mean buffalo wing".

"That would be Jungmyeon, the owner. He's our main chef as well" Doyoung says with a grin, "You should taste his curry, it's amazing".

"Then I'll try it tomorrow" Jaehyun promises, turning off the stove. He turns to face Doyoung again, and before he could talk, the older man leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

"What was that for?" Jaehyun asks, fingers on his cheek, and Doyoung shrugs.

"For being willing to put up with me, I guess" he says, "You're doing me such a service".

"I'm enjoying myself" Jaehyun replies, and Doyoung gives a pleased smile.

"Also" Doyoung adds just before they enter the lounge again, "I really just wanted to kiss you".

"Then what was wrong with giving me one on the lips" Jaehyun says after a quick recovery, smiling when Doyoung nearly trips.

-

The following morning, while everyone is still sleeping off their hangovers at 10am, Jaehyun is up, making breakfast. Ten, Kun and Taeil are in the spare bedroom (Taeil threatened them with a butter knife, warning them not to have sex while he was sleeping), while Jaehyun slept in his room. Taeyong, Johnny and Yuta were sleeping in the lounge. WinWin couldn’t come to the exhibition, due to practice.

Jaehyun is sprinkling the scrambled eggs with cheese, when his phone rings in his pants.

It's not a known number.

"Hello?" Jaehyun answers, ensuring that he uses formal language.

"Jung Jaehyun?" an unfamiliar voice asks.

"This is he"

"This is Kim Minseok, Director at Zeitz Mocaa" the person replies, and Jaehyun turns off the stove, falling heavily onto a chair. Zeitz is _the_ best contemporary art museum in the country.

"There has been an administration error. My assistant was meant to call you for an interview, along with the other candidates for the position of junior art historian, but she missed the page with your number on it" Mr. Kim says, and Jaehyun cant breathe, "Your credentials at your age is certainly impressive, especially your internships and work at various galleries during your undergraduate. Would you be available for the interview today at 3pm?"

"Yes, I would" Jaehyun manages to say calmly, "Thank you for the opportunity"

Mr. Kim gives Jaehyun the address of the museum (as if he doesn't know it), and after they say goodbye, Jaehyun hangs up.

He stares at his phone blankly. When it hits him that Zeitz just called him, and he had a shot at the job, he jumps up and starts dancing happily.

Jaehyun applied to quite a few art galleries and museums, but Zeitz was the one he wanted. When they didn't call after the deadline for applications, he had been disappointed.

But now he has a chance!

Jaehyun finishes making breakfast with a happy smile.

-

It's only while the coffee is brewing that he remembers the session he has with Doyoung today. Zeitz was in the heart of Seoul's business sector, and it would take atleast 2 hours to get there, which meant that with the interview being at least an hour long, Jaehyun wouldn't be able to make it back in time. Doyoung wanted a specific light to fall onto Jaehyun, and that window would close by the time he returned.

Jaehyun was aware of how little time Doyoung had left, and that he needed atleast 2 weeks to perfect his work after painting Jaehyun. Which meant that a day wasted would not benefit Doyoung.

"Shit".

-

Everyone leaves around 11am, thanking Jaehyun for his hospitality.

"Doyoung?" Jaehyun says, and when Doyoung pauses on his way to the front door, Jaehyun takes a deep breathe, "Could you stay behind for a minute?"

"Uhm, sure" Doyoung says, and except for a suggestive smirk from Ten, everyone else leave without saying a word.

Jaehyun can see Doyoung trying to hide his disappointment, when he tells him about Zeitz.

"That's amazing, Jae" Doyoung says, sounding sincere, and Jaehyun's stomach jolts at the nickname.

"Thank you, I'm very excited" Jaehyun replies, "I'm sorry about today. How about tomorrow night? I'll even take you out to dinner to make up for it"

Doyoung laughs, already shaking his head.

"You really dont have to. Your future comes before a painting being done. Besides, I'm not paying you, so-"

"No" Jaehyun interrupts, "I really want to"

Doyoung seems to want to argue, but just smiles when Jaehyun raises his eyebrow at him daringly.

"Tomorrow night will be perfect. Do you want to just meet at the Eng building?" Doyoung asks, and Jaehyun nods.

"Sounds good"

"That was-"

Before Ten could finish whatever crude sentence he was about to say, Kun puts his hand over his boyfriend's mouth.

-

While Jaehyun is in the most important interview of his life, Doyoung is in his apartment, trying not to sulk as he sketches.

He was so happy for Jaehyun, really and sincerely. Zeitz is the best art museum to work for any young artist or art expert, so for them to consider him was a huge honor.

Yet, here Doyoung was, sitting alone while his roommate was on shift, missing a boy he only met a week ago.

-

While Mr. Kim showed Jaehyun around the museum, talking about the new exhibitions coming soon, and what contributions he could bring if he got the job, he couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart at the missed time with Doyoung.

-

Yuta arrives back at the apartment from his shift at Mystics, leaving his bag at the door, as he goes straight to the kitchen.

He makes himself a sandwich and a cup of tea, and decides to watch some TV while he eats. He expects the lounge to be empty, since it's 4am, but instead, Doyoung is on the couch, fast asleep.

The younger man is in his pajamas, a bowl on the coffee table in front of him. He has a blanket thrown over him, and his sketch pad has slid to the ground.

Yuta sets down his plate and cup, and picks up the pad. It's open on a drawing of Jaehyun.

Yuta can’t resist looking through the pad; the first five pages are all Jaehyun, whether it be his side profile, his nose, lips, his dimpled cheeks, his hands holding a bunch of flowers, and one of Jaehyun eating buffalo wings.

Yuta sighs.

The last time Doyoung drew one person this much, it had been during a dark time in his life.

Yuta closes the sketch pad, placing it on the table.

He then crouches down, making sure Doyoung is completely covered by the blanket and carefully putting another throw pillow under his head.

"I really hope he doesn't hurt you" Yuta whispers, pressing a kiss against his best friend's forehead, "I know where to hide a body".

He then gets up, and takes his plate and cup to his bedroom, watching some videos on his laptop, until he falls asleep.

-

"So" Yuta says the following morning, as he and Doyoung have one of their rare mornings where they have cereal. They're sitting in front of the TV, watching the morning cartoons.

Yes, they are aware that they are adults.

"What" Doyoung says, mouth full of Cocopops.

"Jaehyun" Yuta says, taking a sip of coffee, before continuing, "Your muse"

Doyoung chokes, and Yuta pats his back lightly.

"I told you to stop going through my drawings!" Doyoung says sternly, and Yuta doesn't even attempt to look abashed.

"What are you doing, Doie?" Yuta asks instead, and Doyoung tries not to get defensive.

He's done nothing wrong.

"He's just a subject for me to draw, NaYu" Doyoung says, stirring the cereal in the bowl, avoiding the Japanese man's eyes.

Yuta sees too much sometimes.

"I'm not saying don't pursue something" Yuta says gently, placing a hand on Doyoung's shoulder, "I want you to be happy, and Jaehyun seems like a good, honest man"

"Just look after this okay?" Yuta taps his finger over Doyoung's heart, and Doyoung takes it into his, interlacing their fingers, "I dont want you to get hurt again, okay?"

"We're just friends, okay?" Doyoung says, and Yuta squeezes his fingers.

"Okay"

Doyoung rests his head on Yuta's shoulder, trying not to remember-

He was done thinking about...

-

Doyoung is in the gym, walking on a threadmill, trying to drown his thoughts with loud, rock music.

Park Seungmin.

God, what a disastrous time in his life.

Doyoung swallows, turning the volume up louder.

Yuta is boxing nearby, imagining a very specific face in front of him.

Park fucking Seungmin.

Asshole.

Yuta felt the old boiling rage filling him, throwing his punches harder.

Jesus, it took so long for Doyoung to pick up the pieces of his smashed heart.

Jung Jaehyun –better- not fuck up.

Yuta definitely knew where to hide a body.

-

Doyoung arrives at the Eng building just before 5pm that day, slightly breathless.

He was so caught up in his meeting with his supervisor, that he missed the time. He had to sprint across campus to get here, his supplies bag banging against his leg.

"Hey!" Doyoung says breathlessly as he finds Jaehyun sitting on one of the outside benches, eating a donut.

Jaehyun smiles, his mouth full, and wordlessly extends his hand holding a box of donuts. There are 3 in it, all chocolate glazed.

Doyoung drops down in the seat next to him, and takes one of the treats.

"Here" Jaehyun says, once he swallowed, reaching in a paper bag next to him, and taking out a bottle of banana milk.

"Thank you, this is my favorite" Doyoung says with a smile, quenching his thirst. They eat and drink in companionable silence for a few seconds.

"How was yesterday?" Doyoung eventually asks, and Jaehyun immediately launched into the details of the interview, how nice Mr. Kim was, and how he felt like the position might be his.

"I’m glad to hear that, Jae" Doyoung says honestly, and Jaehyun looks down, smiling to himself.

They both get up after a minute or two- it was already 10 minutes past 5, and the window of opportunity to photograph and draw Jaehyun under the glow of light Doyoung wanted was closing.

The two of them enter Eng, about to walk past the cafe in the building, when Kun, Jungwoo, Xuxi and Ten walk exits it, all holding takeaway bags.

"Hi" Doyoung says, greeted his friends.

"What are you two doing here?" Kun asks, smiling up at Doyoung and Jaehyun. When Doyoung tells them about their session, they all nod.

"Have fun!" Jungwoo says with a sweet smile, and they all go their separate ways.

"So that's Jungwoo and Xuxi?" Jaehyun asks, and Doyoung nods, "I thought they were Taeyong's friends. Why are they with Kun and Ten?"

"That's a long, complicated story" Doyoung says with a grin, and Jaehyun makes a sound of intrigue, but says nothing.

They reach the other side of the faculty, exiting where the beautiful glass walls of the faculty are, covering the entire back of the building. The walls cast gorgeous, shimmering light around, especially as the sun sets. Plus, the setting looks like that of an high-class architectural building in a business sector, which would fit the theme of the painting today.

-

The session is goes really well. Doyoung gets an excellent outline, just before the sun goes down.

They couldn’t play music this time because there were classes and study rooms nearby, but Doyoung still hummed to himself, singing the occasional note.

"You have a gorgeous voice" Jaehyun says, as he's helping Doyoung pack away his supplies.

"Thank you" Doyoung says, a blush on his cheeks, and Jaehyun smiles.

"You seem to enjoy it. Why didn't you double major?" Jaehyun asks, handing Doyoung the gloves he gave him to wear for the drawing.

"I was going to do that in second year, but..." Doyoung quietens down, seeming deep in thought for a few seconds, "Stuff happened, and I lost my will to sing for a while. I’ve only recently started again"

"Oh" is all Jaehyun says, but doesn't say anything else. It doesn't look like Doyoung wants to continue with this line of conversation.

When they finish up, they go to Mystics for dinner.

Yuta is on duty when they get to Mystics, and greets them as he passes their table with a platter of food.

The two of them first stop at the bar to say hi to Taeyong, who made them drinks while they chatted.

Jaehyun still found Taeyong a little intimidating, and didn't know how act around him. He met him at Johnny's exhibition, and while he's heard Johnny talk about him, he'd never seen him before that night.

Jaehyun has never met someone with such a perfect face. It was almost disconcerting to look at. And his first time seeing him, while he was in a suit, looking poised and polised, he couldn't help imagine him as a cold prince.

However, Jaehyun has slowly started warming up towards him. Taeyong seemed to have a dual personality, but mostly came across as a Disney forest animal.

He and Doyoung sit down after getting their drinks, and soon a tall, handsome guy was handing them menus.

"Hey, hyung" Doyoung says with an easy smile, and the guy –Sehun it said on his name tag- reaches out to ruffle his hair.

"Hey, kid" Sehun says, ignoring Doyoung's complaints, as he turns to Jaehyun, "Nice suit"

"Thanks" Jaehyun replies, feeling his ears redden.

Why were there so many attractive people working at this bar?

They order their food, and Sehun leaves with a wink.

"He flirts so that he can get a bigger tip" Doyoung says quietly, and Jaehyun laughs.

"Isn't his" Jaehyun gestures with his hands, "Everything else enough?"

"It is" Doyoung replies with a grin, "Sehun just has expensive taste. And dating the boss doesn't get him a bigger pay. Besides, half the students and sleazy men come in here just for Sehun, Taeyong and Joy"

"Oh, I'm sure you have your fair share of fans" Jaehyun says, and while Doyoung rolls his eyes at that, he spots the pleased smile as Doyoung takes a sip from his drink.

-

Their pizzas arrive, and they toast a slice before eating.

Jaehyun smiles at how Doyoung picks off certain things on his slice, and then breaks off pieces, popping it into his mouth.

They go into their likes and dislikes when it comes to food, and it veers off to pet peeves, their annoying habits and their aesthetics.

Yuta sat down with them for a few minutes, sneaking them an extra basket of fries, before continuing his shift.

Doyoung was just about to order them another round of drinks, when Jaehyun's phone rang.

"Excuse me" he says, taking his phone out of his jacket pocket. When he sees who's calling, his entire face lights.

"I have to take this, sorry" Jaehyun says quickly, but apologetically, before answering his phone at the table, standing up.

"Carly! Oh my God" Jaehyun says in English, and that's all Doyoung understands, before the English gets too fast and by then, Jaehyun is out of the bar.

Doyoung watches him through the windows. Jaehyun is standing on the pavement, his hand gesturing around wildly, laughing and smiling brightly.

An ugly, bubbling feeling rises up in Doyoung as he tears pieces of his pizza up, his eyes never leaving Jaehyun.

Who the hell is Carly?

Jaehyun returns to their table after a long few minutes, that damn smile still on his face.

"Sorry about that" Jaehyun says, "Have you ordered another round, or should I just go and get drinks from the bar?"

Why don’t you ask Carly to get drinks, Doyoung thinks, unable to swallow down his silly jealousy.

"I already did, don’t worry" Doyoung says instead, making sure he smiles.

Jaehyun nods at that, and takes a few fries, dipping it into some sauce, before eating it.

"So, who were you talking to?" Doyoung asks, all casual, "You just seemed really happy to receive the call"

"Oh! That's my Carly" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung tries not to snarl, "She's my best friend from home. We met in kindergarten, and haven't separated since then. We-"

Joy interrupts them, setting down their drinks.

Doyoung could kill her right now.

"Enjoy, boys" she says with a friendly smile, and leaves.

"We were just talking about her wedding plans" Jaehyun continues, and the vice around Doyoung's chest loosens, "She’s marrying her high school sweetheart. I was actually the one who introduced them to each other"

Jaehyun smiles proudly at that.

"Will you be able to attend the wedding?" Doyoung asks, his voice much lighter, and Jaehyun nods happily.

"Luckily it's during Christmas, so I'll be able to attend"

Doyoung breathes a silent sigh of relief, even as they move on from the best friend.

-

Johnny comes in just when Doyoung and Jaehyun were about to leave, and convinces them to stay for a while.

"I'll go get us some drinks" he says with a smile, and smoothens his hair before getting up.

"Watch" Doyoung says as Johnny approaches the bar. The music in the bar was a little too loud for them to hear what Johnny and Taeyong were talking about, but they could still see how Johnny's entire frame folded into itself from laughing, and how pleased Taeyong's smile was, likely from Johnny finding him funny.

There seems to be a lot of staring and blushing going on.

At some point, Johnny gestured so wildly that he knocks his hand into the side of the bar, and swears loudly. Taeyong, with a concerned expression, reaches for his hand, taking into his own. While Taeyong presses an ice filled clothe against Johnny's hand, the older man stares at him with a besotted expression on his face.

"How are they both so..." Jaehyun doesn't seem to have words for what he's witnessing, a bewildered expression on his face.

Yuta walks past the bar with a shake of his head.

"I call it 'dumb love'" Doyoung says, and grins when Jaehyun laughs.

Johnny only seems to remember why he went to the bar after few minutes, and Taeyong makes their drinks.

When he returns to their table, Doyoung has a smirk on his face.

"Thanks. How's your hand, hyung?" Doyoung asks innocently, and Johnny coughs.

-

"My friend WinWin has his showcase tomorrow night" Doyoung says, as he and Jaehyun leave Mystics, saying bye to Taeyong at the bar, who has a tall, smitten puppy hanging off his every word.

"Oh, Yuta's fiancee?" Jaehyun asks, and Doyoung nearly falls over, he's laughing that hard.

"What?" Jaehyun asks, smiling at how infectious Doyoung's laughter is.

"Is that what Yuta said?" Doyoung asks breathlessly, wiping tears from his eyes, as they keep walking again. Jaehyun nods, and Doyoung gives a quick chuckle, "They're not engaged. Yuta just tells everyone that, because the first they met, he asked WinWin to marry him by the end of the night, and WinWin kind of never said yes or no. So to Yuta, they're engaged. WinWin just puts up with it".

"That... sounds like Yuta" Jaehyun says. He's only known the Japanese man for a week or so, but he seemed very intense, and sure of himself.

"Yep" Doyoung says, and they walk in silence, enjoying the frosty, clear night sky, until the older man speaks up again, "Would you like to join me? It starts at 6:30pm?"

Like a date?

"I would like that" Jaehyun says softly, and Doyoung smiles.

"Good" he says simply, "I'll come fetch you at 6:00. The showcase is at the conservatorium".

"Sounds good" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung nods at his assent.

When they get to Jaehyun's apartment complex, they stop outside, simply looking at each other for a few seconds.

Jaehyun was cold, especially in this suit that he wore at Doyoung's request, so he wants to get inside.

But that would mean saying goodnight to Doyoung.

Unless...

"Would you like some tea?" Jaehyun asks, and Doyoung looks surprised.

"From where?" he asks, and Jaehyun smiles.

"From my kitchen" the younger man replies, and when it clicks in Doyoung's brain, his eyes widen.

He really does look like a rabbit, Jaehyun thinks amusedly.

"You want me to go into your place? Just us?" Doyoung asks weakly, and Jaehyun raises a brow.

"Cant friends have tea together?" he asks, and watches Doyoung's cheeks darken.

"Of course. Lead the way" Doyoung says quickly, failing at sounding nonchalant.

Jaehyun ignores the jolt in his stomach as Doyoung brushes past him, the younger man holding open the entrance door to the building, after swiping it open.

It's just tea.

Between friends.

A friend you'd like to see naked, Jaehyun's lizard brain says, and he resists the urge to shush himself.

"I have chamomile tea, and I think a few bags of ceylon" Jaehyun says loudly from the kitchen. He left Doyoung in the lounge to find them something to watch on TV, while he's making the tea, and a snack.

"Uhm, I think ceylon would be find, thanks Jae. One sugar, and some milk would be nice" Doyoung replies, and Jaehyun smiles at the nickname. Johnny used it first, but something about Doyoung saying it did something for him.

He makes them both ceylon tea, and find a packet of forgotten chocolate cookies in his snack cabinet.

When he joins Doyoung in the lounge, the older man is sitting on the couch, and what seems to be 'High School Musical' paused on the tv screen.

"I love this movie" Jaehyun says happily, setting down the tray on his coffee table, before sitting next to Doyoung. The side of their arms brush, and they stay like that.

"I know, you mentioned it last week" Doyoung says, nibbling on a cookie he picked up. Jaehyun turns to him in surprise.

"You remember that? I dont even remember saying it" Jaehyun says, feeling strangely touched. Doyoung seems to feel embarrassed, as if caught out, and shrugs after a while.

"I pay attention to what y- people say around me" Doyoung says before burying his face in his cup of tea.

Jaehyun leaves him like that, a smile on his face as he blows over his tea, cooling it before taking a sip.

They watch the whole movie, and Jaehyun sings and dances to every song, quoting lines from the script, and is pleased when Doyoung slips up and sings along to certain parts. When they reach the end, the two of them immediately sing along to 'Something New'- Jaehyun slips into Troy's role, while Doyoung beautifully matches pitch with Gabriella.

At the final few lines of the song, Jaehyun turns to Doyoung with an exaggeratedly soulful look in his eyes, and is almost startled to find Doyoung already looking at him, something warm in his eyes.

The song fades out, and Jaehyun clears his throat.

"We should collab" he says jokingly, and Doyoung seems to realize he's staring, since he looks down at his hands quickly. He then looks up again, an accusatory tone in his voice.

"You can sing too, why didn't you tell me?" Doyoung says, lightly shoving Jaehyun's arm.

"It's not something I do a lot. I mostly sang in front of my family, or in the shower." Jaehyun says with an unabashed smile.

"I'd like to see that" Doyoung says, and Jaehyun raises an eyebrow.

"You'd like to see me in the shower?" Jaehyun asks innocently, and Doyoung's face is comical when he seems to realize how his words sounded.

"No! I mean I would like to see you sing more" Doyoung says weakly, and Jaehyun laughs.

"I'm just pulling your leg" Jaehyun says, before adding cheekily, "You'll have to work harder to see me in a shower"

Doyoung visibly swallows, licking his lips, and Jaehyun feels a shiver go down his spine at how Doyoung's eyes suddenly seem to darken.

"Dont say things you dont mean, Jaehyun"

Jaehyun sobers up at how raspy Doyoung's voice is.

"Who says I dont mean it" Jaehyun's voice says before his brain catches up.

Doyoung seems to exhale as if he's been holding his breath, and not a moment later, Jaehyun finds himself kissing Doyoung.

Doyoung's lips are soft, soft, soft, and his body is lithe and hard against Jaehyun's.

"I've wanted to do that since I first saw you" Doyoung murmurs against Jaehyun's lips, before moving his lips down, kissing and nibbling at Jaehyun's neck.

Jaehyun moves so that he's sitting on Doyoung's lap, his eyes closed in pleasure.

"I thought you just wanted to paint me" Jaehyun manages to get out, his hands moving to wrap around Doyoung's neck. He feels Doyoung laugh under him.

"That too" Doyoung says, making eye contact with him again, his lips red and wet, and Jaehyun can’t help but kiss him again.

He shudders when Doyoung moves his hands under his shirt, before touching Jaehyun's chest and abs. When Doyoung runs his nails down Jaehyun's stomach, the younger man gasps, his hips stuttering.

They moan together as their hard, clothed erections rub together.

"I'm-" Doyoung says, but doesn't get to complete his sentence, as someone knocks on Jaehyun's front door.

Jaehyun swears loudly, and is willing to ignore the knock, when it comes again, this time more urgent.

He sighs, kissing Doyoung softly, who reluctantly lets go of him.

Jaehyun straightens his clothes, making sure Doyoung is sitting up and looked proper, before opening his door, trying not to look annoyed.

It was Seungkwan, his neighbor Vernon's boyfriend. He and Jaehyun have become friends over the last few months.

"Hyung!" Seungkwan says, and he and Jaehyun hug briefly.

"Boo, what can I do for you" Jaehyun asks, and the younger man rolls his eyes, a fondly irritated look on his face.

"Vernon cut himself chopping onions, and he doesn't have any bandages. Can you help me out?" he asks, and Jaehyun gestures for him to come in.

"Of course, I'll be right back" Jaehyun says, and while Seungkwan takes his shoes off before stepping fully into the lounge, he hears Doyoung clear his throat, who looks at Jaehyun, brow raised.

"Doyoung, this is Boo- I mean Seungkwan. He's my neighbor's boyfriend, and a friend of mine" Jaehyun says, "Boo, this is Doyoung, my... Doyoung".

Jaehyun feels himself blush at the falter. He doesn’t know exactly what he and Doyoung were at the moment. He cant help but smile when Doyoung visibly melts under Seungkwan's pretty, open face and smile.

He leaves them to become acquainted while he fetches a fresh roll of bandage and disinfectant ointment from his bathroom.

Seungkwan soon leaves, with heartfelt thank yous and a friendly wave. When Doyoung and Jaehyun are alone again, they both seem to have become shy suddenly.

"Want to watch the second movie? It's not that late yet" Doyoung asks eventually, and Jaehyun nods gratefully.

-

After the second movie ends, Doyoung leaves.

"Thank you for the tea" he says, standing in the corridor, while Jaehyun leans against his doorframe.

"My pleasure. This was fun" Jaehyun says with a small dimpled smile, and Doyoung returns it with a smile of his own.

There is a silence between them, and Doyoung swallows down whatever pathetic words he was about to say.

"Goodnight. See you tomorrow" Doyoung says lamely, and Jaehyun opens his mouth, and closes it again.

"Goodnight" he says eventually, and Doyoung walks towards the elevator, feeling strangely disappointed.

The elevator opens when he presses the down button, and he gets in, pressing "G".

The doors are closing when a pale hand shoots out, and they open up again, revealing a bright-faced Jaehyun. He steps into the elevator with Doyoung, the doors closing again.

The elevator starts moving down.

"Jaehyun, what-" Doyoung starts asking, confused, when Jaehyun moves forward, taking Doyoung's face into his hands, and kisses him.

Doyoung immediately melts into the kiss, holding onto Jaehyun's hips.

"Let's go watch a movie on Tuesday" Jaehyun murmurs against his lips, and Doyoung nods immediately.

"That sounds good" he replies, and they kiss again.

Jaehyun walks Doyoung out, despite being bare feet.

They kiss once more time, before Doyoung leaves.

-

-

‘You better be banging that guy who was in your apartment’ Seungkwan messages Jaehyun, as he took the elevator back up to his apartment.

Jaehyun snorts.

He'll never get over how someone with the face of an angel could be so crude.

‘Goodnight, Boo’

Doyoung arrives home with a big smile on his face. He hums while he showers, and does a little twirl before falling into bed.

Jaehyun's lips and touch is the last thought on his mind before falling asleep.

-

Doyoung's cellphone ringing wakes him up at 3:45am.

He groans, swearing softly as he picks it up, "American Idiot" blaring in his previously quiet room.

Doyoung is ready to throw his phone across the room, but instead answers it with a sigh.

It could be an emergency.

"What" he says, foregoing any niceties, rubbing his eyes.

"Dons, oh my God!' Johnny's voice is loud and he sounds so happy, Doyoung decides to withhold hanging up on him.

"Do you know what time it is, hyung?" Doyoung asks sleepily, his eyes closed. He lays on his side, putting his phone on loudspeaker so that he doesn't have to hold it.

"Taeyong allowed me to walk him home!" Johnny shouts excitedly, and Doyoung grunts, "And he said he'd like me to photograph some stuff for him. Then he kissed me on the cheek before he went inside his place!"

"Wow" Doyoung scrapes up as much enthusiasm as possible, already slipping into his sleep again.

"I know! I think I love him, Dons" Johnny says, sighing like a lovesick fool, "No, I definitely love him. We're going to get married, and buy a big house, and have dogs, cats, turtles, birds, and we'll adopt 10 kids. He's so amazing, and-"

Doyoung falls asleep while Johnny is still gushing about Taeyong.

The following morning, Doyoung hass a text from Johnny.

‘You fell asleep, I hate you’

Doyoung grins.

‘I'm happy for you, hyung’ he texts back.

Johnny messages him immediately with a simple ‘:D’

-

Jaehyun looks at himself in the mirror, making sure he looks okay.

He hasn't been to many showcases, but he wanted to look decent.

Once he's satisfied with his outfit, he runs his fingers through his hair, making sure it lies stylishly over his forehead.

When there's a knock on his front door, Jaehyun forces himself not to rush. He takes a breath, before opening the door.

He and Doyoung smile at each other.

"You look great" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung gives a modest nod of the head.

"You too" he replies as Jaehyun locks his door, his wallet and keys in his inner jacket pocket, before heading to the elevator.

They walk in companionable silence to the conservatorium, enjoying the night sky.

Doyoung at some point reaches out and wraps his pinky around Jaehyun's, who looks at him in surprise.

"Is this okay?" Doyoung asks, and Jaehyun hates how unsure he seems.

"Yes, more than" Jaehyun replies, and is rewarded with one of Doyoung's wide, toothy smiles that Jaehyun has started loving.

They're walking in the middle of campus, near the student mall. There are students and the occasional security guard walking to and fro. Jaehyun has always loved how Michaelis feels like a community, rather than a university campus.

Walking like this, with a boy he liked, was very nice.

They were a block from their destination, when Doyoung pauses, his eyes weary and seems to visibly dull as he stares ahead of him.

Jaehyun watches him in confusion, before following his gaze. Walking towards them was a tall, gorgeous guy, who had his arm wrapped around a pretty, leggy girl with pouty lips and an impressive amount of cleavage.

They both looked like models.

"Doyoung? What's wrong?" Jaehyun asks, concerned by how Doyoung doesn't seem to be breathing.

The guy seems to have finally noticed them, as he makes a delighted sound, a wide smile on his face, pulling the girl towards them.

"Doyoungie! It's been a while" the guy says in a deep, attractive voice. His face might look friendly and delighted, but Jaehyun could see how cold and calculating those eyes were.

Doyoung finally moves, taking a minuscule step back. If Jaehyun hadn't been watching him so closely, Jaehyun might have missed how his eyes tightened, and his cheeks darkened with splotches of red.

A shuddering breath leaves him.

"Seungmin"


	2. Masterpiece

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “So, you’re the replacement?” he asks, and Jaehyun’s eyes widen at his words, disbelief and shock on his face. Seungmin always revelled in those kind of reactions, obvious by how he goes back to addressing Doyoung” I see you’ve downgraded since you were mine, Doie. I don’t know whether I’m disappointed or not. Is he at least a good fuck in bed? I’m sure you’re using all the tricks I thought you”
> 
> “What the fuck did you say?” Jaehyun demands, stepping forward, and Doyoung barely moves fast enough to reach him, and hold him back. Jaehyun seems so angry that he switches to English, “Wanna say that again, bro?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *clown music plays*
> 
> This was suppose to be up 24 hours after my first chapter, sorry!
> 
> Enjoy!

Doyoung feels his chest seize up as he looks at his ex.

Seungmin couldn't hide his delight at Doyoung's discomfort, even if he tried.

"And who is this?" Seungmin asks, looking at Jaehyun with curious eyes.

The girl was watching them like it was a particularly interesting tennis match.

Gia.

Doyoung's eyes slid away from her.

"Jung Jaehyun" Jaehyun says, stepping forward to shake Seungmin's hand, "Doyoung's friend".

Even though Jaehyun is tall and nicely built, Doyoung's ex still had some height and muscle over him.

"Park Seungmin" the older man replies, "Doyoung's ex", he adds with a smirk.

Doyoung wants to throw up, but he's trying to breathe again.

They shake hands, staring each other down.

“How are you doing?” Seungmin asks, those wide, often innocent looking eyes on him.

Doyoung hasn’t had to speak to him in years, and for this to suddenly happen now was overwhelming.

“I- I’m fine” he says , hating how soft and weak his voice sounds. Seungmin’s smile widens.

“That’s good to hear” he says, syrupy sweet, and Doyoung wants to run away. He almost steps in front of Jaehyun, to hide and protect him, when Seungmin turns his attention back on the younger man.

“So, you’re the replacement?” he asks, and Jaehyun’s eyes widen at his words, disbelief and shock on his face. Seungmin always revelled in those kind of reactions, obvious by how he goes back to addressing Doyoung” I see you’ve downgraded since you were mine, Doie. I don’t know whether I’m disappointed or not. Is he at least a good fuck in bed? I’m sure you’re using all the tricks I thought you”

“What the fuck did you say?” Jaehyun demands, stepping forward, and Doyoung barely moves fast enough to reach him, and hold him back. Jaehyun seems so angry that he switches to English, “Wanna say that again, bro?”

“Let’s just go, Jaehyun” Doyoung says softly, the pit in his stomach tightening, “He’s not worth it”

Before Seungmin could open his mouth, and definitely worsen the situation, Gia seems to get bored of the show down, and sighs irritably.

"Seungie, let's go" she demands, and Seungmin wraps his arm around her tiny waist again.

"Yes, let's go. We wouldn't want to interrupt this lovely date. Nice to see you again, Doie" he says, and with a wink, he and Gia walk past them, continuing on their path.

Doyoung doesn't watch them walk away.

His head feels fuzzy, and his vision is blurred with tears.

He feels warm hands on his cheeks, wiping away the tears.

"What a fucking- Doyoung? Hyung?" Jaehyun asks, switching from anger to worried, and it's enough to jolt Doyoung back to reality.

"I'm fine" he says, clearing his throat when his voice breaks, "I'm fine. Let's go, or we'll be late".

"Wait-" Jaehyun starts, his hand on Doyoung"s arm to prevent him from walking.

"Jaehyun, just drop it. I can’t talk about..." Doyoung's eyes are still glimmering as he struggles with his words, "that. I cant deal with this right now. Let's just enjoy WinWin's hardwork, okay?"

Jaehyun seems ready to argue more, when Doyoung gives him a pleading look, and a soft “please”

The younger man visibly deflates.

"Okay" Jaehyun says, the word sounding a bitter pill to swallow.

Doyoung reaches for his hand, and Jaehyun takes it, squeezing his hand.

Doyoung gives him a small smile, before they start walking again, quiet and both inside their own heads.

-

Five minutes before the showcase starts, everyone has taken their seats. WinWin got them all front row, and the room was filled with the sound of talking and laughter.

Jaehyun was sitting between Johnny and Doyoung. Johnny's entire body was turned to look at Taeyong who sat next to him. Jaehyun had almost grinned at how the older man visibly perked up at Taeyong deciding to sit by him.

On his other side was Doyoung, Yuta, Ten, Kun, Taeil, Jungwoo and Xuxi.

Doyoung was quiet next to him, staring blindly ahead of him. Jaehyun didn't have to think hard to imagine how badly Doyoung and his ex's breakup has been.

Seungmin seemed to have no real emotion, and found amusement in Doyoung's reaction to seeing him.

Jaehyun wants to know what happened.

He wants to comfort Doyoung. He wants to kill this Seungmin.

Reaching out, he tentatively places his hand over Doyoung's on the arm of the chair. Doyoung startles, and looks at Jaehyun with blank eyes, before they seem to recognize him.

Their fingers thread together, and Jaehyun lifts it, kissing the back of Doyoung's fingers.

Doyoung's smile this time is much more genuine than previously, and Jaehyun feels the vice around his heart loosen.

They only look away from one another when the room darkens, and the show starts.

Jaehyun doesn't let go of Doyoung's hand for the rest of the show.

-

They all go back to WinWin's place to celebrate how successful the show was. WinWin was beautiful and graceful, doing a contemporary version of a traditional dance from Wenzhou. The applause he got was the loudest of the night.

Jaehyun sat in the lounge, Doyoung next to him, leaning against him. There was music playing, and drinks served. WinWin ordered them hotpot, and everyone was happy and content.

Jaehyun wanted nothing more than to be alone with Doyoung, but from how Doyoung was visibly loosening up and smiling more naturally, he needed this.

Jaehyun smiles and drinks, not saying much as he watches the people around him. As he holds the boy he likes next to him.

Despite what happened earlier, the night ended well for them all.

"Thank you" Doyoung murmurs at some point, pressing a kiss against Jaehyun's cheek.

"For what?" Jaehyun asks, and Doyoung leans his forehead against the younger man's shoulder.

"For not pushing. For just being you" he says softly, and Jaehyun rests his cheek on top of Doyoung's head.

-

Taeyong's show is tomorrow, and since he double majored in music and dancing, he's been working extra hard. Everyone was going to the show, and when he left WinWin's place first, they all wished him luck with his final preparations tomorrow.

Johnny follows him out, alight with Taeyong allowing him to walk him home again.

Ten's gagging follows them out of the door, until Doyoung throws a cushion in his face.

Jaehyun and Doyoung leave after a while, leaving everyone else to continue the celebrations. By the time they took off, Kun and Ten had already gone to the bathroom to fuck, or whatever, and Taeil was trying to steal WinWin's cat.

The two men arrive at Doyoung's place, hand in hand. Yuta was staying over at WinWin's, so the apartment was Doyoung's.

He didn't want to say goodnight to Jaehyun.

"Would you like to sleep here tonight?" Doyoung asks, his eyes wide and vulnerable.

He's never done this before, and would never have thought to before, but this quickly built trust, partnership and emotion he's felt for Jaehyun in the last two weeks, has been an amazing, whirlwind experience.

Jaehyun stares at him, seemingly speechless for a few seconds.

"Are you sure?" Jaehyun asks eventually, and Doyoung gives his hand a squeeze.

"I'll feel better with you here" Doyoung says, and Jaehyun must not have hidden his surprise well enough, "I dont know why, but you make me feel... safe. I've been attracted to you since I met you, and getting to know you has been a great pleasure. You... you're good, Jaehyun. I trust you"

Jaehyun is quiet for a second, a thousand emotions flashing in his eyes, before a dazzling smile crosses his face, and he leans in, kissing Doyoung gently.

Usually when Seungmin starts rotting inside him, nothing can make him feel better except his friends, or his art.

So for Jaehyun to have taken him out of his thoughts like that, meant something stronger than anything he's felt in maybe years.

Eventually, the two of them are laying in bed, Jaehyun in borrowed pajamas from Doyoung, his strong arms wrapped protectively around the older man.

It's silent for a while, Jaehyun's lips pressed against Doyoung's shoulder. He blinks his eyes open when Doyoung starts talking.

"Park Seungmin. I met him in my first year. It a month into drawing classes, and we were starting on the human body. Seungmin was our first model.

"He'd been a second year, studying music production. I always thought it was funny that he wished to work behind the scenes, since he was practically made to be seen.

"He flirted with me on that first day, and we went on a date that same night. I was in such a state of shock when he asked me to be his boyfriend a month later. Why would he want me, when he looked like that?

"I fell in love pretty hard, and fast. He made me feel so good about myself, never questioning my choice of genre in painting, or making me feel like I had to only be his. All my friends liked him. Why wouldn't they? He was gorgeous, charming, funny. But I don't think Yuta ever fully trusted him- he always tells me there was something off about Seungmin that he could never understand.

"He was the first person I ever sang to, outside of my friends and family. The look of awe and admiration he gave me was what encouraged me to take his suggestion of singing for him in the studio, and maybe write a few songs. For fun, he said.

"I almost ran away the first time we went to the student recording studio on campus. I was terrified, and when Seungmin couldn’t talk me into staying, he... went down on me, to loosen me up.

"It took me months to realize that he used sex to control me, and get whatever he wanted.

"Being in that studio built my confidence, and being in love gave me the material for new songs. Seungmin was the one who mentioned that I should consider double majoring the following year, and take music"

Doyoung's laugh is bitter.

"About seven months into our relationship, a girl in one of my theory classes came up to me after class, and told me how Seungmin hit on her at the club the previous evening, apparently asking her quite crudely to 'let him smash that pussy'. She knew we were dating, and when she rejected her, he became an asshole. He only left her alone when she called for the bouncers. I didn't want to believe her. He could never do this to me. Not to me.

"He was. I confronted him that same morning at the studio, and he seemed to have visibly removed his human mask, showing me the monster below. He was quite calm as he told me about how much 'pussy and dick' he'd been getting. I started crying at some point, and he simply rolled his eyes and told me that I should be grateful that he even gave me the time of day.

"Then he told me he was grateful himself. Grateful for all the songs I wrote and recorded, that he would soon sell and make money out of, and he'd like to introduce me to his girlfriend, Gia, sometime.

"'Maybe dinner? We could even have some fun together, afterwards' Seungmin said as I left the studio"

Doyoung shudders at the memory, and feels Jaehyun tighten his arms around him.

"I was a mess by the time Yuta returned to our room that afternoon, and at some point while he held me as I cried, he called Johnny and Ten. I, I would have never survived that time of my life without them.

"I found out a week later that Ten went to his apartment the next day, and punched him in the face. Apparently, Seungmin got a blue eye from that. Ten may be small, but he's a mean fighter. I think Yuta would have done worse, and certainly Johnny, but my best friends going to jail would not have made me feel better"

Doyoung stays quiet for a few seconds.

"I didn't even have the strength to fight him on the songs he stole from me. Today was the first time I've seen him in years. I..."

Doyoung seems unable to go on, and Jaehyun kisses him on the shoulder.

"I understand" the younger man murmurs, and when Doyoung turns in his arms, he kisses him on the lips.

"I can’t be hurt like that again" Doyoung says softly, and Jaehyun nods, letting his eyes say everything.

Doyoung rests his cheek on Jaehyun's cheek, listening to his steady heartbeat, until he falls asleep.

The following morning, Doyoung makes them both breakfast, and they sit on the tiny balcony, eating.

"What time does Taeyong's show start?" Jaehyun asks between bites of toast.

"Around 7pm. He'll be the last person up" Doyoung replies. He then smiles, and reaches out, rubbing his thumb against the corner of Jaehyun's mouth, wiping away some crumbs. It reminds Jaehyun much of what he did similarly in the meadow.

"Would you like to go get dinner before the show? We could invite the rest, and arrive at the showcase together" Jaehyun offers, and Doyoung nods.

"That sounds good"

-

Jaehyun eventually leaves to go shower and get dressed at his own apartment. It was a Monday, so he had an afternoon tut class.

Doyoung walks him to the corner of his street, their finger interlaced.

It was such an amazing feeling, this... thing between them.

When they pause on the corner, Doyoung turns to Jaehyun. His pretty eyes are wide and luminous in the sunshine, and he still looked soft and sleepy.

He is so gorgeous.

"I know last night was a lot" Doyoung begins, and Jaehyun says nothing, letting him talk, "I didn't mean to bring up my past. I just want you to understand where that reaction to Seungmin came from. I’m fine, okay?"

"Okay" Jaehyun replies, and Doyoung gives him a small smile.

"I like you a lot, Jung Jaehyun" Doyoung says, looking unbelievably shy.

Jaehyun pulls him closer, and wraps his arms around the older man, kissing him right there on the street. Doyoung makes a surprised sound, before kissing him back, his weight comfortable against Jaehyun.

"I like you too, Kim Doyoung" Jaehyun says softly, resting their foreheads together.

"Good"

-

When Jaehyun gets home, he takes a long shower, and only dries himself off, before getting into bed, falling asleep again.

-

Yuta gets home later that morning, humming to himself as he goes to Doyoung's bedroom.

"Morning" he says brightly, jumping onto Doyoung, who gives a pained "oof!"

"Morning" Doyoung wheezes, allowing Yuta to cuddle up against him, "Jaehyun and I are going for dinner before Yong's show. You, WinWin and the rest are invited"

"Sounds good" the Japanese man says, his long, inky black hair brushing against Doyoung's chin.

Doyoung hesitates for a second.

"Jaehyun and I ran into Seungmin last night"

Yuta jolted up immediately, his eyes visibly blazing with anger.

"That fucking sociopath? Did he say anything? I'll chop his little raisin balls of, and feed it to WinWin's cats, that motherf-"

"Hyung" Doyoung says gently, cutting off Yuta, who seems to want to continue his rant, so Doyoung talks quickly.

"I'm fine. Okay? I'm fine" Doyoung says, taking Yuta's hand into his.

Yuta deflates, and squeezes Doyoung's fingers.

"If you say so, Doyoungie" he says softly, and Doyoung nods.

The two of them lay there in silence, Yuta's arms around Doyoung, as always trying to keep him safe from the rest of the world.

-

Johnny presses a hand against his pounding chest, trying to even out his breathing.

He picks up his phone, hand shaking as he pulls up Taeyong's phone number.

He got it from him last night, and pretty much jumped up and down like a kid who got his presents from Santa, when he was alone again.

Johnny breathed in, and gives a long exhale

‘Hi Taeyong, it's Johnny!! I'm excited for your show! I know you'll be wonderful. See you tonight!! Fighting :)))!!’

Johnny forces himself to press 'Send', and immediately regrets it.

Oh fuck, what if Taeyong finds his message annoying? Or he can see how desperate Johnny is for his love? God, he used too many exclamation points, he's such an-

The ping from his phone startles Johnny, making him drop his phone onto his lap. He picks it up quickly, opening the message.

‘Thank you, hyung! This means a lot. See you tonight :D’

He messaged him back! And with a smiley face.

Johnny has his phone pressed against his chest, wedding ring and babies floating around in his head.

Suh Taeyong. It has a good ring to it.

-

Taeyong's performance is beautiful and impressive. He does a dual performance of singing and dancing.

Doyoung heard the way Johnny softly gasped when Taeyong transitioned from the sweet ballad he sang, into his dance, taking off his jacket, revealing just how sheer and thin his white button up was. He rolled up his sleeves and kicked off his shoes.

Jaehyun is quite dazzled himself by how fluid, neat and controlled Taeyong's movements are, moving across the whole stage. He certainly has a magnetic energy, and a cool edge towards him that made him performance that much more electric.

Taeyong ended his performance with a flourish, and everyone applauded, Johnny louder than them all.

At the cash bar, after the show, Johnny stood nervously at the edge of the group, gripping his flowers tightly, stretching his neck in the direction of the backstage, waiting for Taeyong to join them.

Jaehyun, WinWin and Yuta were laughing over something, and Doyoung can't help but marvel at how gorgeous Jaehyun was, his eyes scrunched up, dimples flashing.

Doyoung's attention gets caught by Xuxi's loud giggle, and he glances over at where the taller boy is sitting at a table with Kun, Ten and Jungwoo.

He grins as he watches the four of them. They've always had an interesting relationship to him.

Ten and Jungwoo used to be fuck buddies in Jungwoo's first year, a few years ago. Then at a party, Jungwoo met Xuxi, and it was love at first sight. Ten and Jungwoo remained friends, and it was Xuxi who introduced Ten to Kun. Apparently, Kun and Xuxi had a little thing, briefly before Xuxi started university, but that started and ended during that holiday.

So yeah, Doyoung always watched their interactions with great fascination.

"Hi, what are you looking at?" Doyoung hears behind him, and he turns to see Jaehyun standing there, smiling at him.

He always has a smile for Doyoung.

"Nothing" Doyoung says, taking Jaehyun's hand in his, "Ready for a refill?" he asks, and Jaehyun nods.

They go to the bar, where Doyoung fist bumps with a ridiculously gorgeous guy.

"Another round, Jongin hyung" he says, and while they're drinks are made, Taeyong joins them.

Everyone immediately congratulates him, hugging and giving him kisses. Taeyong's cheeks are red by the time Johnny reaches him.

They seem to want to both shake hands and hug at the same time, before Johnny finally, gently, pulls Taeyong against him, hugging him. Taeyong's hands rest on Johnny's shoulders.

Like some movie, both their eyes close briefly during the hug.

"How does neither of them know?" Jaehyun asks softly, and Doyoung shrugs, having long given up on the two of them.

When Johnny and Taeyong finally break Their Moment, Johnny hands over the flowers, which Taeyong takes with sparkles in his eyes, and a blush on his cheeks.

Doyoung is pretty sure Johnny is close to proposing.

"I've stopped asking myself that months ago" Doyoung replies, and Jaehyun grins.

They all eventually leave, going to a nearby Japanese restuarant, since Taeyong requested sushi afterwards.

Jaehyun and Doyoung return to Jaehyun's place afterwards, to go over their session the following day. The prep work would take long, and needed to be planned out more.

By the time they finished up, both of them were exhausted, and more than a little tipsy.

"Stay the night" Jaehyun asks between kisses, sitting on Doyoung's lap again. The TV was on, but they stopped paying attention as soon as Doyoung started rubbing his hand up and down Jaehyun's thigh.

Jaehyun's hands were buried in Doyoung's hair, while the older man’s hands rested on his hips.

"Okay" Doyoung replies, biting Jaehyun's bottom lip, making him gasp.

Despite wanting to undress Doyoung and explore every inch of him, they were both too tired to do anything beyond a little dirty kissing. They ended up in Jaehyun's bed, laying side by side, their fingers interlaced as they stared at each other in the dark, with no need for talking.

Somehow, that was better than sex.

-

Since the next painting session was happening in Doyoung's studio, in the art building, there was no worry over catching the right lighting.

The two of them woke up early on Tuesday morning, Jaehyun pressing soft kisses against Doyoung's neck, nuzzling against it, his arms wrapped around the older man's thin waist.

"Mmm, good morning" Doyoung murmurs sleepily, his eyes blinking open. He had some dried drool on the corner of his mouth, and pillow crease on his cheek.

Jaehyun wants to wake up next to him every morning.

The thought should scare him, but it doesn't.

"Morning" Jaehyun says softly, sighing softly when Doyoung burrows against him, his hand on Jaehyun's bare chest.

"We need to get up soon, if we want to finish prep in time" Doyoung says after a moment of sleepy silence, and Jaehyun gives an exaggerated groan, tightening his hold on Doyoung, who smiles with his eyes closed.

Eventually they do get up. Despite inviting Doyoung to shower at his place, Doyoung leaves after they have breakfast, needing to return to his place, for fresh clothes and his supplies.

They meet around 9am at the studio, where Doyoung lays down a large piece of white plastic in the center of the floor, before placing white paper over it.

Jaehyun came in a simple tshirt and track pants, and helps Doyoung collect all the cans of paint he put in the lockable cubicle in the supply room.

Once Doyoung has everything he needs, he makes sure his easel and palette is safely out of the way.

Once his apron is on, Doyoung turns his attention back to Jaehyun.

"Okay, I'm ready" he says.

Jaehyun nods, and starts getting undressed.

Doyoung takes a deep breath. This is going to be a long day.

Jaehyun is lying on the white paper, his eyes seeming to burn as he watches Doyoung. Doyoung tries to not think too much about the position they were in, his breath stuttering slightly when Jaehyun's eyes closes briefly as Doyounbg traces his chest, mapping with his fingers, before painting his design there.

The older man was straddling him, sitting on his knees so that he wasn't putting too much weight on Jaehyun.

With his paintbrush in one hand, and palette in the other, he painted all over Jaehyun's chest, his creation coming to life in front of his eyes. He already painted the mask on Jaehyun's face, and his neck and arms was covered.

Jaehyun shivered as the brush moved down to his abs, and Doyoung glanced up at him, his lips curled up.

"Okay there?" he asks, looking like a vision to Jaehyun, who nods, stilling himself.

The upper body takes two hours to do, since Doyoung's painting would be half painted, and half pictures he'd be taking, so his design needed to be perfect.

Doyoung scoots down Jaehyun's body, and takes another hour doing his lower area. He requested Jaehyun wear tight, black boxer briefs, and he clears his throat, the two of them not saying anything as Doyoung painted around the underwear, which was not really hiding anything.

Once Jaehyun's feet done, Doyoung got up, groaning at how stiff and sore he felt.

"I've been on my knees for too long" he grumbles, stretching out his legs, closing his eyes as he cracked his neck, rolling his shoulders.

"Oh?" Jaehyun drawls, and Doyoung opens his eyes to playfully glare at him.

"You know what I mean" he reprimands, and Jaehyun smirks. Doyoung ensured that the aircon in the studio was at a comfortable temperature for the younger man, and that he had a cushion under his head, and padding under the arch of his back and under his knees, to prevent his body from hurting once he got up again.

It takes an half hour for the paint to dry, and when it is, Doyoung places the rhinestones and jewelry on Jaehyun, the contrast of the paint and shiny jewels looking pretty.

Once Doyoung was done, he took pictures from every angle, making sure he got all the images he'd need for his artwork.

Doyoung paints for hours, the music pouring through the room. He took a few breaks in order to feed himself and Jaehyun, and when his layers needed to dry.

"I'm seriously going to have to buy you the biggest gift in the world for doing this for me" Doyoung says, as the late afternoon came, and his rough sketch is finally done.

"It's been fun" Jaehyun says, and groans when Doyoung helps him up. He's unsteady on his feet for a second, before he finds his balance again. The paint on his body immediately starts stretching and cracking. The ointment he put on before Doyoung started painting on his skin, prevents the paint from sticking to his skin and hurting him.

"Seriously, thank you" Doyoung says, kissing Jaehyun, "Now, let's get this paint off you"

"Good idea" Jaehyun replies, and with Doyoung's help, takes off all the jewels and stones on him. Once he only has the paint on him, Doyoung gets the paint removing alcohol, safe for skin, from his bag, and a piece of fabric.

There are no showers in the building, so Jaehyun would have to put up with only getting the paint wiped off for now.

The two of them work together to get the paint off, working slowly and methodically, so that no excess is left on his skin. Except the slight distraction from wiping off the paint on Jaehyun's abs, they finish the upper body quickly.

Once Doyoung reaches Jaehyun's underwear, he awkwardly works around it, making sure to not touch any part of _that._

Doyoung eventually leaves Jaehyun to sort out his feet, as he packs away the supplies, returning the paint to the cubicle, only leaving his canvas out to dry. Once his camera bag was packed away, he focused on Jaehyun again who, besides a few patches here and there and some residue of paint, was clean.

He looked away as Jaehyun pulls on his shirt, feeling strangely shy at watching him dress, when he was on top of him earlier when he was practically naked.

Once the canvas is dry, Doyoung packs it away.

"How about we go back to my place? I can shower, and we can make some dinner. I feel like I've only been having takeout and finger food the last few days" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung agrees, pleased that the younger man wants to spend more time with him.

They reach out for each other's hand at the same time, and walk back to Jaehyun's place.

-

By the time they got back to Jaehyun's place, it was dinner time, and both of them were hungry and tired.

While Jaehyun is showering, Doyoung cooks them some fried rice and spicy rich cake soup. Jaehyun has beer, so Doyoung takes out two for them.

Jaehyun joins him in the kitchen 30 minutes later, freshly showered, his skin pink and clean, dressed in a grey tshirt and pajama pants. He gives an appreciative sniff, and Doyoung smiles when Jaehyun presses a kiss against his cheek.

"Would you mind if I take a shower? I want to wash the session off me" Doyoung says, leaving the soup to shimmer.

"Of course. I'll finish up here, and leave out some clothes for you to put on" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung gives him a grateful smile. He tells him what still needs to be added, and then leaves.

Doyoung takes a quick shower, making sure his hands and arms, the places with the most paint on, is clean. Afterwards, he dries himself off with the spare towel in the bathroom, and wraps it around him, going into Jaehyun's bedroom.

He flushes at the thought of Jaehyun walking in, and seeing him like this. Of what they could be doing right now.

"Stop it" Doyoung quietly says to himself, and quickly gets dressed, leaving the bedroom before any other inappropriate thoughts could invade his head.

He finds Jaehyun setting the small breakfast table in his kitchen, the soup and fried rice already dished in serving bowls.

"I'm starving" Doyoung whines, and Jaehyun dimples at him, handing him a beer as they both sit down. While Jaehyun pours his in a glass, Doyoung just drinks it straight from the bottle.

They eat together, and when Jaehyun asks him about his exhibition, Doyoung excitedly talks about how he can finally finish up his paintings now. He had everything he needed.

"I just want everyone to see it" Doyoung says, and when Jaehyun just looks at him warm eyes and a smile, Doyoung raises his brow at him, "What?"

"Nothing" Jaehyun says, his eyes never leaving Doyoung's, "Happiness and excitement looks really good on you"

Doyoung blushes, looking down at his plate, "Does that line ever work?"

"I don’t know, did it?" Jaehyun asks, and Doyoung looks up, shrugging.

"Maybe" and when Jaehyun leaves over to kiss him, Doyoung melts into it, sighing happily against his lips.

They go to bed together after watching a movie, Doyoung falling asleep with Jaehyun behind him, holding him tightly.

Doyoung wakes up in the middle of the night, needing the bathroom. He gets up, making sure not to disturb Jaehyun.

Once he's done, he washes his hands, and gets back into bed. He manoeuvres them so that Jaehyun's arm is around him, and Doyoung can cuddle up against him.

Doyoung gazes at Jaehyun, who looks younger in his relaxed and sleeping state. His face really was a beautiful combination of softness and sharp features. Doyoung reaches up, and gently, softly traces Jaehyun's lips.

"You're so beautiful" Doyoung says softly, running his finger along Jaehyun's cheek.

This is the third time they're in bed together. Doyoung hasn't done this in years.

He hasn't been this comfortable with someone in a long time.

"I like you so much, Jae" Doyoung murmurs, so very vulnerable in that moment.

He watches the youngest man sleep for a while, until exhaustion pulls him under again.

-

Kun, Ten, Taeil and Jungwoo have breakfast together the following morning. They go to Jerry's, sitting in the corner.

Once they all ordered their food, Ten takes out his phone, frowning at it.

"Doyoung isn't answering his phone" Ten says, typing something, "Neither is Johnny. It's Wednesday. They know Wednesdays we have breakfast together"

"Johnny is probably busy" Kun says, reasonable as always, "And I think Doyoung had a session with Jaehyun yesterday, so he might be sleeping, or busy painting already"

"Did you see how Johnny nearly fell over himself in his haste to distract Taeyong from the guy flirting with him at the bar?" Taeil asks, and Ten smirks.

"I thought he would physically throw him out of the bar" Ten says, putting his phone away, "I'm getting bored of this little romcom between the two of them. They need to just bang and get married"

"Classy, Ten" Jungwoo says, rolling his eyes at the older man, making Taeil snort.

"Hey, I'm just saying" Ten says with a shrug, "It worked for me"

"Last time I remembered, we weren't married" Kun says dryly, and Ten smiles sweetly.

"Then why did you say you wanted to marry my tongue after I-" Before Ten could finish, Kun clapped his hand over his mouth, just as their waitress, Seulgi, returned to their table.

She gives them all judgemental looks as she set down their beverages, before leaving again.

-

"Do you think there's something going on between Doyoung and Jaehyun" Ten asks, as he cuts into his pancakes.

Jungwoo looks at him like he's the biggest idiot he's ever seen. Taeil ignores him in favour of his eggs.

"I'll tell you when you're older, honey" Kun says, patting Ten on the shoulder, who grumbles as he takes a big bite of pancake.

-

Doyoung wakes up the following morning with Jaehyun spooning him from behind. He smiles with his eyes closed, snuggling in closer.

That's when he feels that Jaehyun is hard. Without meaning to, Doyoung wiggles again, rubbing against Jaehyun, who gives a small gasp.

Doyoung freezes, hearing how Jaehyun gives a small sigh, hips thrusting forward. Doyoung flushes at how snug Jaehyun's clothed erection is against his ass.

"Jaehyun?" Doyoung says softly, licking his lips when Jaehyun merely tightens his arms around him, holding him tighter. Their bodies were flushed against each other now, and Doyoung's dick twitches when Jaehyun moves his hand down Doyoung's chest.

"Is this okay?" Jaehyun asks softly, startling Doyoung. He turns his head, and Jaehyun's face is so close that he only has to lean in a little in order to kiss him.

The kiss turns hot and dirty quickly, as Doyoung places his hand over Jaehyun's, guiding it under his sweatpants, gasping when fingers wraps around his erection.

They grind against each other, Doyoung pushing back against Jaehyun's hard on. They're moaning and licking into each other's mouth more than they're kissing, and Doyoung soon thrusts into Jaehyun's hand.

When Doyoung's neck starts hurting from being turned like that, he manoeuvres so that he's facing Jaehyun.

And what a sight he is.

Jaehyun's lips are red and spit slick, his eyes dark and hungry, and his cheeks are flushed.

"Come here" the younger man says in a deep, gravelly voice, and Doyoung let's him lift him. Doyoung ends up laying on top of Jaehyun. Doyoung tangles their legs together, and they're kissing again, Jaehyun's hands massaging Doyoung's ass.

Their hips move against each other, and Doyoung wants to paint the expression Jaehyun makes when Doyoung grabs at his head, tugging his head back so that Doyoung can kiss his neck.

"Fuck, I need to come" Jaehyun groans out, and Doyoung nods. After much moving around, they both get their pants down, and Jaehyun spits into his hand before he wraps his hand around both their dicks, his hold tight as he thrusts his hips again.

Doyoung slumps against him, pressing kisses against his jaw and cheeks as he moves his hips with Jaehyun, chasing his orgasm.

He's so close by the time Jaehyun runs his free hand down Doyoung's spine, resting it on his ass for a second, before spreading a cheek, rubbing his finger over Doyoung's hole.

When Jaehyun lightly presses against the rim, Doyoung jolts as if electricity ran through him, and comes, biting on Jaehyun's shoulder.

Jaehyun doesn't take long to find his orgasm as well, quiet in his release. He moves his hand over their dicks until they're both too sensitive.

Doyoung rolls off Jaehyun, who gives him a kiss, before getting out of bed. Doyoung watches his ass as he goes to the bathroom, giving an appreciative wolf-whistle.

Jaehyun returns with a warm, damp cloth, which he runs over both their chests, and wipes his fingers. Leaving the cloth on the floor, he gets back in bed, throwing the duvet over both of them again.

They face each other, and like last night, Doyoung runs his fingers over Jaehyun's lips.

Unlike last night, Jaehyun takes his fingers into his mouth, licking between the digits, and sucks on them.

"You're insatiable" Doyoung says, pressing his fingers deeper into Jaehyun's mouth, whose eyes never leaves Doyoung's.

Before he could make Jaehyun gag, Doyoung pulls his fingers out, kissing the younger man, who rolls so that he's on top of Doyoung. It's too soon to go for another round, but that doesn't mean they couldn’t kiss and touch each other.

"God, I want to draw you just after we've fucked. You'd look so amazing" Doyoung moans out, running his hands down Jaehyun's broad back, while the other man is nibbling at his earlobe.

"I'd let you" Jaehyun murmurs, before moving down, taking Doyoung's left nipple into his mouth.

Jaehyun eats out Doyoung until he has tears in his eyes, begging to release, then fingers him until the older man comes. He then turns Doyoung around, and jerks off all over his ass.

Jaehyun looks up at Doyoung with warm eyes, exposing his neck like he's asked, while Doyoung takes photographs of him. He had quickly adjusted to the click of the camera, while Doyoung photographed him as he came, while Jaehyun was sucking him off, and now afterwards, looking well-fucked.

"We're not doing this every time we fuck, hyung" Jaehyun says, still good-natured when Doyoung sets aside the camera, before he gets him out of bed, so that they can shower.

"Okay" Doyoung agrees easily, opening the hot water tap of the shower. While they wait for the water to get to the right temperature, Jaehyun turns them so that they're facing the mirror, standing behind Doyoung, his arms wrapped around his waist.

They are both naked, and there’s a big hickey on Doyoung's neck, with finger shaped marks on his hips.

"Do you know what the first thing was I thought when I met you?" Doyoung asks, resting his arms on Jaehyun's, who tucks his chin on the older man's shoulder.

"What?" Jaehyun asks, lacing their fingers together, as he presses a kiss behind Doyoung's ear.

"'I bet he looks amazing in white'" Doyoung says, grinning when Jaehyun laughs, "Then I imagined undressing you, and licking every inch of your body"

"Well, both of those have come true" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung leans his body against his, "Want to know what I thought?"

"Why is this weird guy asking me to paint him?" Doyoung guesses, and Jaehyun grins.

"Yes" he says, and Doyoung playfully digs his elbow into Jaehyun's ribs, "But also that you were the prettiest guy I'd ever met, I wanted your number, so that I could wine and dine you"

"Then why did you make me work for yours so hard?" Doyoung demands, slightly miffed as Jaehyun pulls them under the shower.

"Because you looked like you got bored easily, and enjoyed the chase. And I like being worked for" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung wraps his arms around his neck, his eyelashes clumped together.

So pretty, Jaehyun thinks.

"You were worth it" Doyoung says, suddenly very sincere, and Jaehyun smiles.

"I'm glad I seemed like someone who looked good in white" he says, pressing their foreheads together.

"Me too" Doyoung murmurs, before licking into Jaehyun's mouth.

That night, they go on their First Date.

Doyoung had returned home after breakfast, to put away his painting and art supplies. Yuta was still sleeping when he got to the apartment, and after changing into other clothes, Doyoung left to go do his errands for the day.

He and Johnny got together for lunch, where Johnny gushes over Taeyong, and Doyoung shyly tells him that he and Jaehyun were together.

He thinks.

Are they?

Jaehyun seems to like him, and from everything they've done, it seemed like they were a couple.

But this was university- people could casually fuck, and hang out, without being together.

Doyoung sits in his room, half hour before Jaehyun would pick him up for their date, doubting everything he thought was true.

But friends dont go on dates, do they?

Okay, Doyoung needed this cleared up, before the end of the night.

-

When Jaehyun shows up, Doyoung exhales, feeling like his insides have been constrained for hours.

Jaehyun looked good in a Guns & Rose's shirt, ripped jeans and a thin hoodie around his waist. He gave Doyoung a wide smile, before pulling him into a kiss, which Doyoung loses himself in.

"You look great" Jaehyun says, wrapping his arm around Doyoung's waist, as they walk down the street, heading towards the main mall, just outside the university grounds.

They were watching a new Marvel movie, then having dinner afterwards.

"You too" Doyoung says, kissing Jaehyun on the cheek.

They arrive 30 minutes before the movie starts, buying tickets, two small Cokes, one large popcorn, and a bag on candy.

In the cinema, they took their seats in the middle, putting the popcorn between them. While the trailers play, Doyoung can't help but the constant clanging against his head of "Are we dating" "Are we dating" "Arewedating".

During the first 5 minutes of the movie, Doyoung pulls out his phone, setting his phone light on low, and typed out a message to Jaehyun.

"Are we a couple? This is killing me".

He sends it, staring blindly at the screen as Jaehyun's phone vibrates. He sees out of the corner of his eye as he checks the message.

Doyoung can feel Jaehyun looking at him.

Oh shit, he's sending a message back.

A few seconds later, Doyoung’s phone vibrates, and he quickly opens the message.

There are no typed out words, only a screenshot of Jaehyun's home screen.

His screensaver is a picture of Doyoung busy mixing paint together, a smudge of red paint on his cheek.

This must have been taken in the meadow, while Jaehyun was waiting for Doyoung to finish preparing.

Feeling touched, and a little silly, Doyoung looks at Jaehyun, who already had his eyes on him.

Without saying anything, they share a quick kiss. When Doyoung pulls back, Jaehyun simply pops a kernel of popcorn into his mouth, and looks at the screen again.

Doyoung smiles as he finally concentrates on the film.

-

After the movie ends, they sit through the credits, Jaehyun pressing kisses against Doyoung's hand.

"Over twenty movies has been released by Marvel" Doyoung says, watching people leave the cinema, disgust on his face, "Twenty plus films later, and people still leave before the post-credit scenes"

"Let them" Jaehyun murmurs, smiling at Doyoung, "Have I told you how pretty you look today?"

Doyoung turns his head to look at his boyfriend (his boyfriend!), and presses his forehead against his.

"You haven't yet, but thank you" Doyoung says, kissing Jaehyun on the lips. They stay like that for bit, until the credits ends, and they watch the last scene.

Outside the cinema, they walk hand in hand to a grill house restaurant, where a waitress escorts them to a table by one of the windows.

They order a bottle of wine, and when the waitress returns with the wine and two glasses, places their order for food.

"I was thinking" Doyoung starts, as Jaehyun pours them each a glass of wine, "Would you like to go for a run with me tomorrow?"

"Sure" Jaehyun says, surprised at the request, handing Doyoung his glass, "In the morning?"

"Yes. I usually run around 6 or 7am, when I actually remember to get up that early" Doyoung says, as they clink their glasses together, "I started running on the mountain after the whole Seungmin thing. I needed something besides painting to clear my head. I couldn’t do it with singing, since he pretty much ruined that for me. So I decided nature was my friend"

Jaehyun looks at him with soft eyes, no trace of pity in them. It made Doyoung feel better, knowing that Jaehyun wasn’t feeling sorry for him.

"I'd be honoured" he says gently, and Doyoung looks down, a blush on his cheeks.

They drink their wine, and eat their food.

They walk back to Doyoung's place afterwards, where Jaehyun gives him a soft, sweet kiss on the cheek, before returning home. He unfortunately had to prepare for his next tut, and Doyoung had to start finishing up his paintings.

"Goodnight, Doie" Jaehyun texts later on, lying in bed.

"Goodnight, Jae" Doyoung replies, and Jaehyun presses his lips against his cellphone screen, before putting it down, falling asleep with pretty eyes and long, artist fingers in his dreams.

-

Doyoung and Jaehyun go on their run, Doyoung happily jogging behind Jaehyun in order to watch his ass and long, uncovered legs in those running shorts.

"Take off your shirt!" he yells as they reach the bottom of the mountain, passing a trio of morning joggers. They are given scandalous looks, especially when Jaehyun starts running backwards to wink at Doyoung as he complies, taking off his shirt, running with it bundled in his hand.

The two men reach the top of the mountain, where they do some stretches, and drink some water. Doyoung pounces on Jaehyun when the younger man pours some water over his head like he's in some pool boy porno. They nearly ended up getting to third base, but dog barks alert them to people coming their way, so after leaving Jaehyun with a boner, Doyoung gets up, and starts jogging down mountain, laughing and feeling light-hearted for the first time in forever.

To make up for missing breakfast on Wednesday, Doyoung and Johnny have to pay for breakfast that morning.

The gang all meet at Mystics, and when Jaehyun and Doyoung shows up sweaty and pink faced, Ten and Yuta give equal looks of disgust.

"Don’t touch me with that sweat" Ten says, shielding behind Kun when Doyoung reaches out to hug him in retaliation. Xuxi and Jungwoo soon show up, and right behind them are Taeil and Jungwoo.

Taeyong was training to become a part-time waiter, so he was assigned their table. Johnny looked at him like he invented the camera, all big smiles and flush cheeks.

Ten rolls his eyes at him, and gives his order. Once Taeyong got everyone's orders (and read it back to them twice) he leaves, Johnny staring at the back of his head.

"Doesn’t his hair look great" Johnny says dreamily, "The green colour makes him look like a fairy"

"He does" Kun says, and then with a quick smirk at Jungwoo, says in an innocent, very Kun voice "In composition yesterday, I heard that Minghao from dance was sniffing around, flirting with Taeyong. Apparently he's trying to get Taeyong to help him choreo the last part of his final showcase, so that they can spend more time together"

Johnny snaps his head in Kun's direction so quickly, that Doyoung winches at the whiplash.

"Minghao from ballet, or Minghao from ballroom and contemporary dance?" Johnny asks quickly, and Kun barely hides his grin.

"The second one" he replies, and Johnny swears. His face turns stony, and he thinks hard, before pulling out his phone, typing something quickly.

"Are you sending out a hit on him?" Ten asks with too much excitement in his voice, and Johnny shakes his head, still looking serious.

"Just changing my game plan" he says, just as Taeyong returns with two tea pots, one for Doyoung, and the other for Taeil. Everyone else wanted coffee.

"Here you-" Taeyong starts brightly, but startles when Johnny gets up quickly, suddenly towering over him.

Would you like to go on a date with me, Taeyong?" Johnny asks, sounding breathless, his eyes painfully hopeful, "We can go to that bird forest you've told me about, or that dog cafe on Main"

Taeyong seem speechless for a second, before flashing a dazzling smile.

"Really? You'd like to go on a date with me?" Taeyong asks, eyes wide and bright.

Doyoung takes the tray from Taeyong, putting down the pots, and pours himself some tea.

"Yes, of course" Johnny says, seeming desperate for Taeyong to know about his undying love, "I've liked you since the day I met you. You're not only gorgeous, but kind, talented, goofy and have the best heart I've ever seen. So, would you like to go on a date-"

Taeyong doesn’t let him finish, as he throws his arms around Johnny, leaning up on his tippy toes to kiss him.

Ten is taking pictures of them.

"Is anyone going to come fetch this coffee?" they hear Junmyeon shout from the kitchens, and Yuta sighs, before getting up.

-

Two nights before Doyoung's exhibition, he's working at the bar, his friends sitting at the booth in front, Jaehyun amongst them.

"Don’t forget, the production begins at 7pm. There will be seats upfront, but the grass area would give you a better view of the stage" Taeil says, and everyone nods and voices their agreements. It was the music and art departments' finals this week, and tomorrow was the Masters students production. Taeil and Kun were doing a joint show together, and have been working hard for months.

"Can’t wait, hyung" Jungwoo chirps, and Taeil gives him a smile, pinching the younger man's cheek.

There's chaos at the door as a group of boys come inside, laughing and talking loudly. The one in front, Donghyuck, comes to the bar where Taeyong is working alongside Doyoung, while the others take the booth next to the gang.

"Hey, hyungs!" he says, and Taeyong immediately switches into mom mode, asking if Hyuck ate, if his homework was done, and if he was treating his roommate, YangYang, well.

"Stop fussing" Donghyuck says, rolling his eyes, and gets hit with a dishcloth, "Can I order now?"

After Hyuck leaves with a tray of drinks, returning to his friends, Jaehyun comes to the bar, his glass empty.

"What do I have to do to get a refill?" he asks in a lower, deeper voice, unashamedly running his eyes over Doyoung.

"I could use a massage" Sehun says behind them, coming into the bar area to get some straws.

Jaehyun blushes, and Doyoung rolls his eyes.

"Dont tease him, hyung" Doyoung admonishes, and Sehun leaves them with a grin.

Jaehyun leaves with a drink and a kiss on the cheek.

By the end of the night, the kids are sitting with Doyoung's friends, and Taeil had invited them to the production as well. Doyoung joined them during his tea break, kissing Jeno on the cheek, and sitting on Jaehyun's lap.

Later, when they're laying in bed, after making love, Doyoung lays awake as Jaehyun sleeps, their bodies pressed tightly together. His paintings were all completed, and he was ready to set up his space the next day.

That didn't help with his anxiety and stress of his exhibition failing, and the examiner hating his work.

To distract himself from the tightening in his chest, he gently untangled himself from Jaehyun, picked up a sketchpad and granite pencil he keeps on his bedside table, and drew.

-

Doyoung wakes up early the next morning, and with a kiss against Jaehyun's cheek, he takes a quick shower, gets dressed, and grabs a banana before leaving.

He already left his art and supplies in the room next to the studio he chose for his exhibition. The room only became available for him this morning, so he had until 4pm to set up.

When he gets to his venue, Johnny, Yuta, Ten and Sehun are already waiting. Johnny hands him a takeaway coffee and a croissant.

Doyoung takes a grateful sip.

"Thanks for coming" he says sincerely, and once he's done eating and drinking, he's assigned his friends with their duties.

"Okay, let's get to work"

-

Music plays throughout the morning and afternoon as the gang helps Doyoung prepare for his exhibition happening the following day.

Kun comes around as it hits lunch time, carrying takeaway bags filled with Chinese food. They all eat outside, sitting on the ground in a circle, Doyoung feeling warmth in his chest as he eats his hotpot, watching Ten as he lays his head on Kun's shoulder, as Yuta and Sehun talk about some soccer match Doyoung won't know about, and once Kun leaves to go prepare for his show that evening, they all go back to work.

Jaehyun calls him just as he goes to get the paintings out of storage, wishing him good luck on his final stretch of preparation.

He couldn't be with them today, since he had to go back to Zeitz for a follow-up interview.

When Doyoung takes out his paintings, laying them on the table outside the studio, he slowly unwraps each one from the soft, safety tissue they were wrapped in.

Everyone shows their appreciation for his hard work, and they respect that Doyoung wants to be the one who hangs up his art by himself. The walls of the studio were left white, and besides a few mirrors of various designs and sizes placed in strategic places, and benches placed in the center of the room so that people could sit and look at the art, Doyoung kept his exhibition fairly simple.

He wanted his work to shine, not the decorations around it.

When his work of Jaehyun started being shown, everyone went "oohhh" or "Is his nose really that small?"

When he took out the final one, which was a collection of paintings on smaller canvases which would be placed together, Sehun gave an appreciative wolf-whistle, Ten cackled and Yuta's mouth hung agape.

"Is that allowed?" Yuta asked, and Doyoung grins, taking the work inside to be placed on the easels.

By 3:54pm they were all done.

The external moderator, Doyoung's supervisor anda senior lecturer showed up. Everyone bowed deeply before leaving the studio. Whilst his exhibition was the following day, it was being examined today.

Doyoung's hands were shaking as he closed the studio doors behind him, letting his future be decided by those 3 men.

Ten took his hand in his, squeezing it hard.

"It's an amazing exhibition, Dons" Ten says gently, "You'll ace this, okay?"

Doyoung swallows painfully and nods once.

"I need to a drink" he says, and Yuta wraps his arm around him.

"That we can organize"

-

Doyoung takes a long shower once he gets back to the apartment, and changes into fresh clothes. He feels much better after eating a snack, and sits in front of the TV, watching a mindless reality show as he waits for Jaehyun to return from the interview, so that they can go to production.

Doyoung already packed a bag with two blankets (one for the grass, the other to cover them), and two small throw pillows. He also prepared a picnic basket, filled with sliced fruit, sandwiches, a bag of cookies, and a bottle of wine.

At 6:30pm, there's a knock on Doyoung's door, before it opens, and Jaehyun walks in, looking gorgeous in a denim jacket and a snap back, his hair pushed out of his beautiful face.

"Hey" Jaehyun says, and they share a long, lingering kiss.

"Hi" Doyoung responds, his arms around Doyoung. They hug each other tightly, their bodies fitting together in a way that always ridiculously pleases Doyoung.

While they walk to the venue where the production was being held (it was being set up on the lawn of one of the boys residents, which was wide and spacious enough for a stage and seating). Jaehyun tells him how his interviews went, looking even more enthusiastic about his chance of getting the job.

"Did set up go well? Were you all done before the judging panel showed up?" Jaehyun asks, swinging their hands between them.

"Just in time" Doyoung says, trying not to start fretting again, "It looked like how I envisioned it would, which I'm happy about. I just-"

Before Doyoung could continue, Jaehyun turns him into his chest, kissing him soundly.

"It looked like how you envisioned, which you're happy about" Jaehyun says softly, but firmly, "That's all you need to think about, okay?"

"Okay" Doyoung says, a small smile on his face, before leaning in, kissing Jaehyun on the cheek, "Thank you. Sometimes my mind is a safety hazard to my well being"

"All of ours are" Jaehyun says as they start walking again.

They reach the venue, and find all their friends sitting in a cluster on the grass, with a great view of the stage. Donghyuck, Jeno, and the rest of the ragtags were close by, so at least Taeyong could keep an eye on his brother.

Speaking of, Doyoung rolls his eyes at the way Taeyong and Johnny were sappily staring into each other's eyes, Johnny probably making up poems about how pretty Taeyong's toenails are.

Doyoung and Jaehyun take a spot by a tree, setting up their blanket. Taeil and Kun were only performing nearly halfway through the production, so the two of them still had time to settle down and have a glass of wine.

Ten was sitting next to them, looking spiffy, and waving around a sign that read "I LOVE MY BOYFRIEND (AND TAEIL)" with a picture of Kun from high school, and a literal picture of the Moon, pasted on the board.

"Kun is going to kill you" Doyoung drawls, and Ten grins.

-

When Taeil and Kun walk out onstage, both of them dressed in classic tuxedos and hair slicked back, everyone applauds, the gang louder than the rest.

Both men do a bow, before taking their positions- Kun sits behind the piano, while Taeil stands in front of the mic stand.

There's a brief silence, and then a soft, delicate backup track starts of a violin. Apparently, it had been Kun who asked YangYang if he could record him playing a composition created by the older man.

When Kun started playing the piano, the high, water-like flow of YangYang's violin matched and played off wonderfully with the crystal, slow and resonant play of the piano.

Then Taeil starts singing, and the composition is complete.

Everyone is quiet, staring in awe at the beauty that was being performed onstage. Doyoung felt tears run down his cheeks as Taeil hit a high note, matching the crescendo of the violin while Kun's piano briefly melded into the background.

The final few verses of the song is sung by both Kun and Taeil, and they sound beautiful together.

When the song fade out, Kun playing the final few notes, everyone got up, giving them a standing ovation.

"That's my baby!" Ten shouts, waving his sign around, while Johnny gives a wolf-whistle.

Doyoung's hands are sore by the time everyone finishes applauding, and with a wave at their friends, Kun and Ten leaves the stage, with the next performance coming onstage.

"I felt like I just simultaneously lost and found the love of my life" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung nods, "That was phenomenal"

"It was" he agrees, taking Jaehyun's hand back in his, "I'm so proud of them"

Jaehyun's dimples flash as he kisses the back of Doyoung's hand.

"Do you think that's how love feels?" he asks, and Doyoung feels a flutter in his stomach.

"You've never been in love before?" Doyoung asks, and Jaehyun shrugs.

"I've never really given relationships much thought. Putting my high school and university grades first, meant I wasn't meeting a lot of people" he says, and Doyoung licks his lips.

"Yes" he says, and Jaehyun's eyes never leaves his, "I think that composition is a perfect representative of how love feels"

"Good" Jaehyun simply says, and with a kiss on the palm of Doyoung's hand, he turns to look at the stage again.

Doyoung looks at Jaehyun's side profile for a second longer, as if committing it to memory, before looking away again.

Their fingers intertwine in the middle.

-

After the production, everyone goes to Cubaña to celebrate the success of Taeil and Kun's performance, and that both of them were approached by music companies.

Johnny is chatting with some of his photography buddies at the bar, showing off Taeyong. Yuta, Taeil, WinWin, and Kun were dancing, while Ten was flirting with a bartender, hoping for some free drinks.

Doyoung and Jaehyun were in the back alley of the bar lounge, the older man pushed against the wall, his hands held up above his head by Jaehyun, who was kissing his way down Doyoung's neck.

"Everyone is probably wondering where we-" Doyoung gasps as Jaehyun bites down on his pulse point, sucking a mark into his neck. Their groins are grinding together, and Jaehyun wraps his hand under Doyoung's thigh to let his leg hitch around his waist. They both gasp at the improved friction, Doyoung's mouth agape as he tries not to groan too loudly.

"God, I want you so much" Jaehyun rasps against Doyoung's ear, sucking on his earlobe, causing the older man to shiver, lifting his hips to get off faster.

"You have me" Doyoung gasps, and Jaehyun suddenly pulls back to look at him, his cheeks flushed and eyes dark.

He says nothing for a few seconds, simply looking at Doyoung, before leaning in, and kissing him. Unlike earlier, this was a gentle, tender kiss that made Doyoung sigh against his boyfriend's lips, trying to press impossibly tighter against him. They kiss for a long time, as if committing each other's taste, touch and scent to memory.

The charged, sexually intense moment becomes something much... sweeter. Their bodies seem to become even more attuned, and sensitive to each other's touch.

Doyoung feels a shudder go through him when Jaehyun releases his grip of the older man's hands, in order to cup Doyoung's face, their lips and tongue eliciting more sounds out of each other.

"I like you so much" Jaehyun says in one rush, breathing a little hard when they break the kiss, Doyoung's hands on Jaehyun's chest.

"Good, because I like you too" Doyoung murmurs, and the expression on Jaehyun's is enough to make Doyoung want to confess much, much more. More than he is ready to say.

When they return inside, Jaehyun's hand in pressed gently against the small of Doyoung's back.

-

"What if it's not a success?" Doyoung whispers softly, head resting on Jaehyun's bare chest, half laying on the younger man, whose arms were wrapped around Doyoung's waist, "What if all my hard work was for nothing?"

"Look at me, hyung" Jaehyun says gently, and with a painful swallow, Doyoung looks up at him, closing his eyes when Jaehyun strokes his fingers over his cheek.

"I can’t tell you that it'll be alright, and that your exhibition will be an overwhelming success, because sometimes we all just want to be fretful, and worry, and not be reassured" Jaehyun says, and Doyoung sighs, because he was right, "But I can say that I think your art is beautiful, your ideas sounded amazing, and I for one look forward to seeing your vision come to life tomorrow"

Jaehyun runs his fingers through Doyoung's hair, making the older man close his eyes at the feeling.

"Your creativity and passion for your art was the first thing I ever liked about you" Jaehyun admits quietly, and Doyoung opens his eyes, looking at the blushing younger man in surprise, "That, and the fact that you are quite a mastermind when you want something"

Doyoung laughs, and Jaehyun's eyes visibly soften.

"You have me in your corner, okay?" he says, sounding so painfully sincere that Doyoung can’t help but believe that maybe everything would be alright.

"Okay" Doyoung says softly, pressing a kiss against Jaehyun's pec, "Thank you"

Jaehyun nods, brushing his fingers against Doyoung's lips, before pulling him closer, and with a content sigh, Doyoung rests his head over Jaehyun's heart.

Jaehyun starts singing softly, his deep, clear voice beautiful, and Doyoung listens to him as his brain finally allows his body to fall asleep.

Doyoung's exhibition began at 6pm that night, and since his work was all up, and Junmyeon would be setting up the cash bar by himself, he could sleep in.

He wakes up just after 10am, to the feeling of Jaehyun pressing kisses against his cheeks and forehead. Smiling, Doyoung reaches out without opening his eyes, and strokes Jaehyun's hair.

It takes a second for the smell of coffee to register, and when Doyoung opens his eyes, he finds Jaehyun lying on top of the bedding, and next to him, was a tray of food.

"When did you get up?" Doyoung asks groggily, sitting up, before yawning widely. Jaehyun lifts the tray off the bedside table, and sets it on Doyoung's lap.

"Happy final exhibition day" Jaehyun says, kissing his cheek, "I made breakfast. I thought it would be nice to eat in bed together"

"This is so sweet" Doyoung says, pressing a kiss against Jaehyun's lips, "Thank you"

Jaehyun dimples, clearly proud of himself, and Doyoung gets that feeling again, of wanting to say more, confess more. He swallows it down.

Now wasn’t the time.

Not yet.

Doyoung divides the French toast and accompanying toppings (cream cheese, caramelized sliced bananas, maple syrup) between them, while Jaehyun pours them coffee, and flavors it to both their liking.

They eat in silence, they sides pressed together, Doyoung vocalizing his appreciation for Jaehyun's cooking.

Afterwards, they do the dishes together, before taking a shower.

Doyoung takes his time lathering up Jaehyun's body, running his hands over his chest, and down his legs. He teasingly licks a strip up Jaehyun's erection, smirking at the small "fuck" Jaehyun lets out. When he gets up again, he turns the shower head, so that the suds run down Jaehyun's gorgeous body.

"Wash my back, and I'll reward you with whatever you want" Doyoung says, and shivers under Jaehyun's gaze.

-

Guests start trickling in as soon as the doors to the gallery open. Doyoung's stomach flutters nervously as he bows his head, smiling at all the familiar and unfamiliar faces passing him at the entrance, taking a pamphlet that he hands out.

The pamphlet contained information on his exhibition's theme, each painting's label, and acknowledgements at the back.

Junmyeon's cashbar was in the courtyard, set next to the gallery space, and accessible via a sliding door.

Doyoung showed up around 5pm, making sure that his work was fine, and that nothing needed any retouching. Junmyeon showed up a few minutes after him, and with Sehun, brought in the alcohol and crates of glasses. The older man gave a beautiful smile, complimenting Doyoung on his exhibition, which Doyoung accepted with a blush.

Jaehyun was showing up with the rest of Doyoung's friends, which meant that Doyoung had an entire hour to deal with his nerves.

At some point, while sitting in the courtyard with the other two men, Sehun simply handed him a tumbler of brandy, which Doyoung takes gratefully, downing it. The burn of the alcohol heats his body, and settles his stomach a little

Whilst handing back the glass, Doyoung notices a ring of Sehun's left ring finger. He gapes at it.

“Where did that come from?”

Sehun looks down at his finger, as if forgetting the ring was there. Then he shrugs.

"Oh, Myeon and I are engaged" he says casually, and Doyoung cough.

"What?" Doyoung nearly screeches, and Junmyeon grins.

"Yeah, I asked him about an hour ago" he says, and Doyoung goggles at the two of them.

"You two are unbelievable" he says, shaking his head.

When his supervisor and Head of Department shows up, Doyoung smiles widely, accepting their praises with relief. Apparently, the examiner was very impressed by Doyoung's work.

"Your final pieces were certainly bold and raw" his supervisor says, and Doyoung bows. They eventually leave him to enter the gallery, and Doyoung says against the wall.

His parents and brother show up, and after much hugging and Mrs. Kim straightening Doyoung's navy blazer, fussing over whether he was eating enough, they too enter inside to see his exhibition.

When the gang finally shows up, Doyoung has to ward off Ten's kisses, and gives an "oof!" when Johnny picks him up and spins him around. Once they're done teasing him, and took their pamphlets, they all enter inside. Doyoung presses a kiss against Jaehyun's cheek as he passes.

Once it hits 6:15pm, Doyoung enters the gallery himself, setting the rest of the pamphlets on the table.

He stands and watches everyone walking around, looking at his hard work, his vision, his life, some with wine in their hands already.

The soft glow of the fairy lights, along with the bare light bulbs hung along the ceiling, casted a gorgeous light, reflecting beautifully against the mostly silver mirrors, decorated with stones and diamonds.

The paintings were placed on specially-made easels, and some hung against the wall.

Pride filled Doyoung as he watched everyone, and when Jaehyun walked towards him, a vision in all-white, much like the first painting they did together, Doyoung felt his heart swell.

"Here you go" he said, handing Doyoung a glass of wine.

"Thank you" Doyoung says, taking a grateful sip.

"This is gorgeous" Jaehyun says, only sincerity in his eyes and voice, "You've done so well. Everyone loves it"

Doyoung smiles, taking Jaehyun's hand in his, and he doesn't feel as nervous anyone, as people started approaching him to talk about his work.

Jaehyun is shaking hands with what seems like every person who came to the exhibition. His cheeks have been red since he did the first walkthrough, and a mixture of pride and shyness was going through his body.

He'd obviously given Doyoung explicit consent to draw and paint Jaehyun as he wanted to, but to see it like this, with all these people looking and admiring the work, was a strange, yet exhilarating feeling.

Jaehyun tightens his grip of Doyoung when the older man's parents and brother comes their way. He could definitely see where Doyoung got his good looks from, and made sure that he looked as friendly as possibly when they stopped in front of them.

Doyoung did the introductions, proudly calling Jaehyun his boyfriend. His family greets his warmly, which gives Jaehyun much more relief than it should.

The five of them walk through the exhibition together, and Doyoung pauses in front of his work, talking briefly through each work. Their group of friends soon join them, seeing how Doyoung is in his element, talking about the thing he loves the most, which is his work.

"I was working with the theme of Hyper Realism" Doyoung as they stand infront of the first painting, which is a large canvas painting of his family's hands, clasped together. It was done in such an ultra 3D design, that it felt the hands could reach out and grab someone.

They pass the work of Jaehyun in the meadow, wearing the all white, beautiful and otherworldly with the acrylic paint used. The next one is a painting of Ten and Kun sitting across each other, foreheads leaning together, Ten's eyes closed while Kun looks at him. There was smoke surrounding them, and the space around them was warped and distorted, until it was difficult to tell where Ten started, and Kun ended.

"Good job, partner" Ten says, and Kun grins as they fist bumps.

Taking up an entire center of the back wall are two paintings of Jaehyun: the one on top is Jaehyun in the meadow again, leaning back on his hands, shirtless with flowers in his hair, bathing in the orange glow of the setting sun. The painting below is of Jaehyun's back, wearing an all-black suit: his side profile is of him smirking, with Jaehyun's fingers crossed behind his back. The gorgeous glass walls of the Eng building completed the painting.

On an easel is a drawing of Taeyong's beautiful eyes, set against a warm, light-grey background. Johnny loudly compliments Taeyong on the drawing, making the younger man blush and simper. Ten rolls his eyes at them.

Everyone goes "ooh" and "aah" at the next painting of Jaehyun. Jaehyun smiles at it: it's his favorite one, especially since he became an artwork himself, allowing Doyoung to paint him. Doyoung did a fantastic job combining the painting with the photographs he took, and deserved all the praise he got.

They moved on to the largest canvas in the exhibition, which is a watercolour painting of a birds-eye view of the Han River in vivid colour, with a small, intricate drawing of the gang picnicking, blending beautifully into the background.

The final artwork is a combination of four small canvases placed on four easels, next to each other. Ten wolf-whistle loudly, while Johnny clears his throat.

"You two certainly worked hard" Kun says with a straight face, and Yuta seems to choke on air, WinWin patting him on the back.

"What was the inspiration for this, Doyoung?" Taeil asks innocently, and Doyoung rolls his eyes at his friends.

"How about we go get a refill, kids" Mr. Kim says, and everyone agrees quickly, leaving Jaehyun alone with Doyoung.

"Do you really like them?" Doyoung asks, looking slightly worried, and Jaehyun smiles reassuringly.

"They're amazing" Jaehyun says, looking at the four canvases, all done in black and white. The first one was of Jaehyun licking his way up Doyoung's stomach, his hand between the older man's legs; the second one is of Jaehyun as he orgasms, his head thrown back in pleasure, lips parted; the third is Jaehyun laying in bed, fingers buried in the head of hair between his legs; the last painting is Jaehyun in bed, sleeping on his front, his butt not covered by the sheets, "I feel like I'm seeing myself through your eyes".

"You are" Doyoung says, brushing a lock of Jaehyun's purple hair out of his eyes.

They share a soft kiss, and joins the rest when Ten starts making gagging noises at them.

-

While Doyoung is busy talking to the director of a big gallery in Seoul, Jaehyun is sitting in front of the art work on the back wall. He smiles, remembering the day at the meadow.

Someone sits down on the bench next to him, and Jaehyun is surprised that it's Doyoung's older brother.

"He did well, didn't he?" Gongmyung says, looking at the paintings, and Jaehyun nods, turning his head to the front as well.

"Yes, he did" Jaehyun replies softly, his heart swelling, "He's an amazing painter. An amazing artist"

"He is" Gongmyung agrees, and Jaehyun could see him turning his head to look at him, "He hasn't been this inspired by someone in years. Has he told you about his ex?"

Jaehyun nods, looking at the older man again. He feels like he's being assessed.

"After the hell that piece of shit put my little brother through, I didn't think anyone could make him smile like this ever again" Gongmyung says, seeing something Jaehyun could not, "But the last few weeks have been different. Doie is... lighter. Happier. And that's because of you"

Jaehyun blushes, looking down. He didn't know what to say.

He felt Gongmyung patting him on the shoulder.

"Thank you" he says softly, and before Jaehyun could do more than give him a smile, Doyoung joins them.

"What are you two gossiping about?" he asks suspiciously, and playfully glares when Jaehyun and his brother smile at each other.

"Nothing, little brother" Gongmyung says, getting up, wrapping his arm around Doyoung's neck, and kisses his on the cheek, before leaving the two men alone.

Jaehyun feels like he passed the assessment.

"I hope he didn't scare you?" Doyoung says once they're alone, and Jaehyun grins, shaking his head.

"No, your brother seems cool" Jaehyun says, looping his arm around Doyoung's, the white of his blazer contrasting with the dark navy of Doyoung's, "Let's go look at my nudes again"

Jaehyun gets that feeling in his heart again when Doyoung laughs.

"Did you see that Junmyeon proposed to Sehun?" Doyoung says as he walk through the gallery.

"What!"

As a celebration of Doyoung's exhibition being the last end-of-the year project in the group, and the engagement of Sehun and Junmyeon, everyone goes for dinner that evening.

Doyoung would have to get up early the following morning to take down his exhibition, and clear it up for the next work going up.

But for now, he'll enjoy his night.

They go to The Butcher, the fanciest restaurant near their campus. After a set of tables are places together to fit 13 people, they sit down, and order their food and drinks.

Long toasts are made for the newly engaged couple, and for everyone's successful showcases, productions and exhibitions.

They have dessert, ordering champagne with it, and everyone cheers loudly when, during the second round of toasts, Johnny tells Taeyong he loves him.

After leaving The Butcher, they all go to Mystics, where the first round of drinks are for free, courtesy of the now tipsy owner. They end up on the second floor, where Sehun gives his fiancée a sexy lap dance, much to the delight of everyone. Junmyeon's red, dazed face was worth it.

Johnny is the one who suggests that the karaoke machine gets taken out, which everyone cheers to. After much grumbling, Yuta is the one who sets it up.

Ten sings first, doing a rather slutty performance of "Like a Virgin", stripping out of his jacket and tie, make inappropriate gestures with the mic and his hands to Kun.

After Taeil performs a Migos song (he's quite a good rapper), Junmyeon sings a ballad to Sehun, and Taeyong and Johnny do a sappy duet together, Doyoung gets up.

Everyone stares in surprise as he goes up to the stand, and takes the mic.

Jaehyun gives a smile when Doyoung looks out at them. It has suddenly become a much quieter moment from all the cheering and whistles.

"I haven't done this in a while" Doyoung says, seeming to take a deep breath. His jacket was off, and his tie was loose around his neck. His perfectly jelled hair was in a slight disarray, and his lips were red and slightly swollen from all the kissing he and Jaehyun did in the bathroom earlier.

He looked absolutely gorgeous.

"This is for all of you" Doyoung says, and looks at Jaehyun, "But especially for you, Jae. I feel like you helped me find my voice again"

Jaehyun feels tears in his eyes as Doyoung starts singing, his clear, high, beautiful voice floating through the room.

-

That evening, after all the celebrations and excitement, and everyone has gone home, Doyoung makes love to Jaehyun.

It's their first time doing it like this, and the stark vulnerability in Jaehyun's eyes as Doyoung slowly works his opens, before pushing into him, nearly undoes the older man.

As Doyoung slowly moves inside him, Jaehyun reaches for his hands, intertwining them with his own. Doyoung stuck with slow, deep thrusts. When he angled his hips, and Jaehyun arches his back, a beautiful, pleasure filled expression on his face, Doyoung could swear he had found religion.

He lifts Jaehyun's hands above his head, squeezing his fingers as he leans down, kissing his boyfriend. Their tongues licked into each other's mouths, and their lips moved together, as Doyoung continued moving his hips at his own pace, smiling at how Jaehyun gave a sob as his prostate was repeatedly hit.

"Please, please, hyung" Jaehyun whimpers, and Doyoung moans at the honorific. Jaehyun knew just which weakness to hit. He tightens his hold on Jaehyun.

"Legs" Doyoung commands, and Jaehyun immediately complies, wrapping his legs around Doyoung's small waist, gasping as it pushes the older man deeper inside him.

Doyoung eventually starts moving faster, chasing his own release. By the way Jaehyun clenches around him, and his hips start stuttering, he's close as well.

With a sigh, Doyoung thrusts a few more times, before he comes inside the condom. He continues fucking Jaehyun through his orgasm.

"Come for me" he murmurs in Jaehyun's ear, "My muse"

Doyoung smiles in victory as Jaehyun immediately moans, coming a few seconds later.

"You're the first boy I've been with since high school" Jaehyun whispers later that night, his arms wrapped around Doyoung, as usual, lying face to face.

Doyoung, who's head was tucked into the nook of Jaehyun's neck and shoulder, looks up in surprise. Jaehyn has a small smile on his face, still slightly sweaty from earlier.

"Really?" Doyoung asks, and Jaehyun nods, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"It wasn't important" Jaehyun says simply, shrugging, before pressing a kiss against Doyoung's forehead, before looking at the older man again, "Is it?"

"No" Doyoung says honestly, "I'm just surprised. I know you said you haven't really given relationships and sex much thought, but I assumed you'd had a few hook ups back home"

"I did" Jaehyun says, stroking his hand along Doyoung's spine, "I just never seemed to find a guy I was interested in, and all the girls seemed to like me just fine"

"Jeez, I wonder why" Doyoung drawls, lightly slapping Jaehyun on the shoulder when he smirks, "So I'm the first guy to tap that ass in the last 5 years?"

"You're the first guy ever" Jaehyun says, grinning when Doyoung gapes at him, "I usually topped"

"We're just full of firsts today" Doyoung says, kissing Jaehyun, before adding jokingly "Thank you for trusting me with your ass, I guess"

"It was definitely my pleasure" Jaehyun quips, before saying in a softer, more serious voice, "I've trusted you with more"

Doyoung just looks at him for a second, before smiling, and cuddles back into his earlier spot.

"Me too" Doyoung confesses softly, and sighs in contentment when Jaehyun tightens his arms around him, lips pressed against the crown of Doyoung's head.

They're quiet for a few seconds.

"Why are you telling me now?" Doyoung eventually asks, and he feels Jaehyun shrug.

"Because I wanted to" Jaehyun replies, and they dont say anything else after that.

-

-

The following night, Johnny and Jaehyun have their weekly radio show. Jaehyun shows up with energy drinks and snacks for both of them- Johnny messaged him around 8pm, complaining about how hungover he still was from all the partying they did. Jaehyun wasn't doing much better himself.

Zeitz was meant to get back to him tomorrow, and let him know whether the job was his or not. It's been knocking at the back of his skull since he woke up, and he was distracted for most of the day.

Plus, his ass hurt like a bitch after the previous night, and only after taking pain pills and Doyoung massaging his ass cheeks, did he feel slightly better.

So yes, Jaehyun had a lot on his mind.

He got to the radio station with an hour to spare. Johnny was lying on the small couch, curled in a ball, in the lounge next to their booth.

Jaehyun smiled at the state of his best friend, and after much manoeuvring and grumbling, ended up sitting on the couch, Johnny's head on his lap, stroking the older man’s grown out, inky black hair.

They cook the ramen Jaehyun brought, and Johnny gulps down the energy drinks, looking slightly more human afterwards.

The show goes well. There are the usual call-ins, they play their music, and talk about how their week have been going. Johnny gushes about his boyfriend for nearly 5 minutes, before Jaehyun has to cut him off.

After playing another set of songs halfway through the show, they read out the messages sent in to the show.

"This one is from iamfullsun-nim" Johnny reads says and Jaehyun snorts softly, "It says 'Hi Johnny hyung, I hope you're having a good day. Taeyong, please do my laundry for me. Dear Mark Lee, dont forget to take your flu pills, or I'm not sucking your d- okay, I think that’s all from that message" Johnny's face is bright red, and Jaehyun has to move away from the mic to hide his laughter.

"Let's move on shall we?" Johnny says quickly, pulling up the next message, "This one is from confessions-nim. It says-" Johnny pauses, reading the message, before looking at Jaehyun, a smile on his face, "JaeD, how about you read this one?"

Jaehyun looks at Johnny is surprise, before remembering that he has to talk, "Uhm, sure JohnD"

He pulls up the message and reads, "This one is from confessions-nim. It says 'Dear JaeD and JohnD, I'm a huge fan of your radio show. I listen every Sunday night, and I think you guys are the coolest. I have a confession to make. I started dating this gorgeous, amazing boy a few weeks ago, and I think he's the best. I'm an artist, and he became my muse. I-'"

Jaehyun pauses, realization dawning on him. He swallows, and continues reading.

"'I haven't been this happy in a long time, and it's because of this amazing boy. He is everything I've needed the last few years, and he's inspired me to not only paint my best work, but also find my voice again. I haven't sung in front of anyone in years, and I finally did so yesterday, partly because of him"

Jaehyun clears his throat, his heart hammering in his chest as he reads the rest.

"JohnD and JaeD, I want to confess that I am in love with this boy. I've probably been in love with him since I met him that day, and the first thing I saw was a meadow. I love you, Jung Jaehyun"

Jaehyun's hands are shaking, and he doesn't know whether he wants to laugh or cry.

Seeing that he needs a moment, Johnny reads the last of the messages, before playing ads.

"Are you okay?" Johnny asks, grinning. When Jaehyun merely looks at him, Johnny pats him on the shoulder, "I know, bro. I know"

They finish the rest of the show, but all Jaehyun wants to do is find Doyoung.

As soon as they say their goodbyes, Jaehyun runs out of the booth.

"Go get him, Jae!" Johnny shouts behind him.

Doyoung is working a shift at Mystics, behind the bar as usual.

It was Taeyong's night off, so Junmyeon was working alongside him, as he occasionally did. They worked well together, and the older man made a mean gin and tonic. He was also soft on the eye, so there were usually a group of girls hanging around the bar, flirting and giggling at him.

Doyoung was busy making a large order of fruity cocktails, when Jaehyun walks in.

Doyoung smiles, a flutter in his stomach. He's been waiting for him to show up.

When Jaehyun makes eye contact with him, the younger man's face lights up, his dimples digging into his cheeks. Doyoung abandons the drinks order, leaving his station to meet Jaehyun halfway.

Without pause, Jaehyun pulls Doyoung against him, leaning in and kissing him soundly. Someone wolf-whistles as Doyoung wraps his arms around Jaehyun's neck, deepening the kiss.

"I love you too, Kim Dongyoung" Jaehyun murmurs against his lips, and Doyoung smiles, kissing him again.

They only break apart when Junmyeon loudly tells Doyoung to finish his order or he'll be in trouble.

"Are you sleeping over tonight?" Doyoung asks as he reluctantly pulls apart, and Jaehyun immediately nods, his eyes warm and soft.

"Always" he says, and with a final kiss, Doyoung gets back to work, while Jaehyun takes a seat at the booth by the window.

Much later, after Doyoung finished working, and the two men made love, they end up as they always did, with their arms wrapped around each other, their eyes only on each other.

Doyoung trails his finger along Jaehyun's jaw, before brushing them over his lips, smiling even the younger man cheekily swipes his tongue over the pads.

"I love you" Doyoung murmurs, his soft voice blending into the dark, hot bedroom.

"I love you too" Jaehyun replies, leaning his forehead against Doyoung's, "So, so very much"

They fall asleep with Jaehyun's lips pressed against Doyoung's temple.

-

Zeitz Mocaa calls Jaehyun the following day, just as he leaves his last tutorial.

He got the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mystics and Cubana are real bars. Michaelis School of Fine Art is where I’m studying Curatorship. Zeitz Mocaa is a real contemporary art museum. One of my exam questions for art history was on one of the collections there. I'm currently assisting my intern supervisor on an intervention they're doing on some art there, but I can't say more, coz I signed an NDA.
> 
> Thanks for reading!!
> 
> Yall can find me on my socials
> 
> Twitter: Malikah_Meyer  
Curiouscat: malikahmeyer

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter 2 will be out within the next 24 hours!!
> 
> Please read taeyongseo's fics, she's so talented.
> 
> Come yell at me on my socials.
> 
> Twitter: Malikah_Meyer  
Curiouscat: malikahmeyer


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